Natural Instinct
by Kari Gilmore
Summary: It's hard to go against instinct. That's what Timon's daughter Shani learned. She decides to journey to the Pride Lands to learn how meerkats outside the oasis live. Spoilers to Out of the Blue within. Believe it or not, CHAPTER 49 IS UP!
1. Hero In Training

Look who's back! Like _Out of the Blue,_ I'm still working out details and such, so don't expect the next chapter up right away. It's kinda coming together, though. Oh, and I may as well say it 'cuz I haven't for a while: I don't own any of the characters in _The Lion King,_ but I do own all the characters in this chapter and this little prologue you'll be reading in about five seconds. See y'all soon!

Natural Instinct  
By Kari Gilmore

_From the moment we enter this world we receive many gifts that will help us through life. Different beings receive different gifts, but there are gifts we all receive; the Body, the Soul, the Mind, and above all, the Inner voice._

_The Body is the outward, what you can see. It houses the Soul, the Mind, and the Inner Voice._

_The immortal Soul is emotions and feelings._

_The Mind is memories and logic. But the Mind needs to be taught and even then it only learns a fraction of what it needs to know._

_That is when you listen to the Inner Voice, Instinct. No matter where you are, or what the Mind is taught, the Inner Voice will speak and instruct you. There have been a number of occasions where one has gone against the Inner Voice and continue to thrive even to this day. But of course, the ability to suppress it does not pass onto every generation..._

Chapter 1:

A young adult meerkat with red hair, blue eyes, and six stripes on his back grunted and jumped back, panting and holding a stick out in front of him. In front of him was a young cheetah, about fifteen months old. The cheetah crouched down, his tail twitching from side to side as he bared his fangs, snarling. The look in his hazel eyes signaled he was preparing to strike. The meerkat panted softly as cold sweat dripped down from his forehead. He stiffened when he felt someone step up beside him. He looked and saw a young reddish brown warthog, also over a year old, with small tusks.

The warthog took a quick glance at the meerkat, then back to the cheetah. "I know what you're thinking, Kito, but we can't back down. We can't let him beat us. Don't let him see you sweat."

"Tch, little late for that, Bango," the meerkat, Kito, said nearly breathlessly as he wiped some of the sweat from his forehead. He turned back to the cheetah and yelled out in surprise as the cheetah lunged at him, snapping his teeth. He tightly squeezed his eyes shut as he blindly swung his stick, smacking the cheetah on the bridge of the nose. The cheetah reared back, rubbing his nose. Kito opened an eye to see the cheetah rubbing his nose and blinked. "Wow, it worked." He gathered himself and held his stick out in a threatening manner. "All right, give up and I promise it'll be quick and painless!"

The cheetah recovered from the whack on the nose and growled as he crouched down, "Funny, I was just about to give you the same offer!" Bango snorted and lunged at the cheetah who, with lightning fast action, back-pawed the warthog aside. Bango landed hard with a grunt. He was now out cold.

"_Bango!_" Kito gasped and backed away, gritting his teeth. The cheetah only smiled as he slowly approached him. "OK, Morake, I need my personal space. _Back off._" He grunted as he ducked the cheetah's swiping paw. He looked at the stick he was holding, which didn't avoid the sharp claws of the cheetah. It laid before him in two pieces with one piece in his paw. He tossed it aside. "OK, you're hungry, I can dig that. How 'bout a cup of coffee and a nice Danish on the East side?" A jump to avoid the snapping teeth made the meerkat decide to stop talking and start running. He turned tail and ran, with Morake the cheetah in hot pursuit. "OK, OK, don't bite my head off! _You_ pick the side!" He heard and felt the snapping teeth close behind him, making him try to speed his pace.

The cheetah blindly snapped his fangs for a few yards, and then leaped forward to get in front of Kito. But when he did, he found the meerkat was no longer there. The foot tracks left by both animals were visible, but Kito's tracks had stopped. Morake blinked and sat down, looking terribly confused.

Bango, recovered, ran towards him and slowed to a cautious trot until he reached him, noticing the confused expression. He looked around asking, "Uh... where's Kito?"

Morake shrugged, but then felt some movement in his mouth. "Mmm?" He opened his mouth wide, and Bango leaned forward to see. Kito was sitting inside of the cheetah's mouth with his arms crossed, his eyes closed, and one of his eyebrows twitched.

"Um... Morake?" he asked without changing any of his features.

"Esh, Ieo?" Morake asked, his mouth still wide open, making speaking difficult.

Kito climbed out of the mouth and onto the cheetah's snout, looking at him straight in the face and shouted, "_**That's not in the script!**_" Morake winced at the shout. "The hero's not supposed to get eaten!"

Morake coughed and wiped his tongue off. "Like I was _planning_ to eat you? You don't taste that good, anyway... too much fur. Makes me a little sick."

Kito glared at the cheetah slightly. "I've got mixed feelings... Should I be relieved or insulted?" he asked himself. He spoke up, "Oh, yeah, and I've got two words for you: mouth, wash."

Morake furrowed his brow as he lowered his face to the ground, allowing the meerkat to drop down. Kito hopped off. "Anyway, I'm sorry, Kito. I was just really into it this time. I was going for realism."

Bango softly snorted as he rubbed his cheek. "A little _too_ much if you ask me."

Morake whined softly and cowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Bango. I don't know my own strength."

Kito and Bango shared a look, and then Kito walked over and patted the cheetah on the paw. "Just try a little harder to be a little gentler next time, OK, buddy?"

"I'll try... should I go back to pouncing you instead of snapping my fangs?"

The meerkat cringed softly. Neither option sounded pleasant. "Uh... just pin my tail down or something. My back's still sore from last time you pounced me." He leaned backwards, releasing several cracks. Bango and Morake winced softly.

"Sorry, again." The cheetah then crouched down playfully and swished his tail. "Can we try again now? I promise to go easy this time."

"It's OK with me," Bango said with a smile.

Kito grinned and nodded, "OK, OK, we'll go another round as soon as I can find another good stick." As Kito turned around to look for said stick Morake's ears flattened and rubbed his nose. Kito hummed a tune as he looked along a nearby tree for any fallen branches he could tear a piece off for a weapon. A thick stick caught his attention under a bush, so he took hold of that and began to turn... but the stick did not budge. He turned around, took hold of it with both paws, and tugged on it, gritting his teeth. It didn't move. He turned around and tried pulling it over his shoulder. No luck.

Morake padded over and wrinkled his nose as he looked at Kito's choice in sticks. "C'mon, Kito, not so thick." He whined, "The last one hurt."

"OK, I'll find another one, but this one's a tripping hazard and needs to be removed!" Kito grunted through clenched teeth.

Morake arched a brow as he watched the stick, and then crouched down to the ground to inspect the bottom of the bush. "Maybe it's caught on something..." He reached in with his claws extended and pawed around. Suddenly Kito yelped and tumbled backwards with the thick stick next to him. Morake nervously smiled as Kito began to stand. "Guess it was caught."

Bango took a look at the stick, sniffing at it. "Actually, I think it's an old root. You must've cut it loose, Morake."

Kito furrowed his brow and kicked at the root, mumbling a few bad words. They suddenly heard some laughter from above them, causing them to jump. They relaxed when they recognized it, looking upward to see the source. A young adult female meerkat with blonde hair, pale brown eyes, and five stripes on her back sat on a branch and giggled as she looked down at the three. "Something _funny,_ little sister?" Kito asked with a growl.

"Well, Morake almost eating you was kinda amusing, but you falling back after pulling on an old root is priceless!" the female let out a few more laughs. Morake coughed as Bango shuffled his foot. Kito blushed slightly, both embarrassed and fuming. "Imagine if that was all real and you were the only one to defend us from the killer insectivore cheetah. The colony's doomed," she said with a dramatic flair.

Kito clenched a paw and growled, "Don't push me, Shani! I'm _really_ not in the mood!"

The female, Shani, frowned a little as she grabbed a nearby vine and began to climb down the tree. "You're never in a good mood when you practice anymore. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even healthy in an oasis that's based around Hakuna Matata."

"I _gotta_ do it." Kito's expression softened and looked away from his sister. "Otherwise I'll let everyone's expectations down." Shani reached the ground, and then grimaced slightly, lowering her eyes.

Morake leaned downward and rubbed his face against Kito. "We all have faith in you, Kito. Bango and I'll be more than happy to help you like we have been." He looked to the warthog. "Right?"

"Right! Like our Dads' always say: 'Friends stick together till the end,'" Bango nodded, saying the last part as if he was rehearsing for a play. "That goes for family, too."

Kito smiled slightly as he patted Morake on the nose. "Thanks. Maybe practice will get to be fun again someday."

Shani tilted her head to the side as she walked up to her brother and dusted him off from his earlier tumble. "Maybe if you loosen up while you practice it can be fun."

Kito stared blankly at her for a moment. "_How_ can you have fun when you're staring at a set of pearly white fangs wanting to use you as a chew toy and razor sharp claws wanting to use you as a scratching post?" Morake whined and put a paw over his other paw. "Nothing against you, buddy," he quickly added. Morake looked relieved.

The female meerkat softly smiled as she picked a small leaf out of Kito's hair. "Then maybe you shouldn't 'play' in that fashion. Play like you used to when we were all kids, without claws and fangs exposed, at least for a while."

"Can we, Kito? Please, please, _please?_" Morake asked eagerly with his tail swishing.

"Maybe later. All that exercise made me hungry." He cleared his throat as Shani continued to clean his fur. "Um, Shani? Is there a reason why you're picking my fur?"

Shani blinked, realizing what she was doing, then quickly pulled her paws back, blushing and nervously laughing. "Sorry. Grandma's influence."

"Right. So, anyone care to join me at IHOG for some eats?"

"You bet!" Bango smiled.

"My favorite," Morake said, licking his chops. "Count me in."

Shani cleared her throat and dusted her paws off. "Uh, I'll take a rain check."

"Suite yourself." With that, the three of them walked off, leaving Shani alone.

Shani sighed in relief, then dusted herself off. Dirt began to flake off of her fur. As she noticed she wrinkled her nose. _I don't think they noticed. Note to self: wash off before anyone else sees you._ She began to walk off in the opposite direction her brother and friends walked off in, but then--

"_**TIMON!**_" a voice echoed throughout the oasis. Anyone in the oasis could hear that scream. Shani stopped in her tracks and winced, slowly turning in the direction the scream was coming from.

"Oh, _no._ Not again..."

_To be continued..._


	2. Mystery Tunnel

Hey again. Well, like I said, I'm still working things out. But really, the real culprit for dragging me away is working on a new character for an Art RPG. You can see a picture on my DA account. But here's the new chapter. Enjoy! 

Chapter 2:

"Don't just stand there gawking! _**Get me out!**_"

The scream came from Uncle Max, who was walking along when the ground suddenly broke under his weight and he crashed a few feet into the ground. A few years ago he would have been able to climb out himself, but he was not as strong as he was when he would dig tunnels everyday, in addition to his old age. Several members of the colony were looking down the crashed-in hole and determining the best method to carry him out without hurting him too much.

Timon, apon hearing his name being screamed clear over by the stream, pushed his way through the crowd to the center. "All right, what is it this time? I was having _such_ a nice nap," he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Max found another tunnel, Timon," a meerkat said as he pointed to the hole in the ground. He added with a smirk, "He said he called your name out of habit."

"He's been in this oasis for over 3 years; he should be out of that habit by now," Timon replied with a furrowed brow. "Besides, I don't want my kids to hear about that." He then looked down at his great-uncle with a grin. "Gee, Uncle Max, that's the third mystery tunnel you've found by yourself this week. You're getting good at this."

"I don't want to _find_ more tunnels; I want to find out who's _making_ them!" Max growled. "_And quit looking down at me!_"

Pete, a meerkat with a talon-shaped scar on his back, stepped up beside Timon and looked down at Max. "We've checked every meerkat in this colony for dirt under the claws and dusty fur and they've all come up clean, so unless someone's willing to confess--" he began, and then was interrupted.

"Not _everyone,_ Pete. Timon always skips his pups," a meerkat spoke up. Uncle Max furrowed his brow and folded his arms, annoyed that they're only talking instead of talking about how to get him out.

Timon spoke up in defense, "Hey, my pups are _not_ diggers! They both take after me and you guys know how much I _loved_ digging." A round of nods and mumbled agreeing followed. "Now that we're clear on that, let's get my lovable uncle out of that hole, shall we? I'll get a vine." Timon turned away, but paused when he noticed his son Kito, Bango, and Morake approaching them. Bango had a very long piece of vine wrapped around his neck. Timon grinned as he walked towards the trio. "I love it; home delivery."

The trio stopped as Timon approached them. Kito stepped up to Timon and cleared his throat. "Uncle Max?" he asked as he jerked his head to the crowd.

"Yup," Timon nodded.

"How many feet?"

"Mm, 'bout three or four."

"Got him out yet?"

"Nope."

"Step aside." Timon took a step to his left as Kito climbed onto Bango's snout and signaled Bango to walk towards the crowd.

Morake laid down near Timon, rested his chin on his paws, and yawned, displaying his fangs. Timon noticed them and cringed slightly. To him they were almost bigger than him... and the cheetah was only a teenager. But Timon wasn't too worried, either. They taught a lion how to stop eating meat, and so far Morake had held strong. He had confidence that the colony and Pumbaa's family would be safe. "You look a little worn out, kid," Timon spoke up.

The cheetah licked his paws, then his lips. "Yeah. The guys and I were goofing around and we were on our way to grab some grubs when we heard Max. I knew just what I wanted to get, too... a nice, big double order of June bugs. I hope we get back on track, soon..." Timon smirked and scratched Morake on the side of his snout, to which the cheetah purred softly.

The crowd parted from around the hole as Bango stopped by it. Kito gathered the vine from Bango's neck, tied a loop at the end, and then swung it over a high branch. He began to lower it down into the hole. "All right, Uncle Max! When you can reach the vine tie it onto yourself! This should get you out in a hurry!"

When it was just above his head Max reached up and took hold of the loop. "Just take it easy on me, pup! My back's still out from the last time!" he called as he tied the loop around his waist.

Kito frowned, "Don't remind me." When he felt the tug he looked down at the rest of the vine, which had a good half a foot left. He then looked over his shoulder at Bango. "OK, buddy, back up slowly."

"But I hate going slowly, Kito," Bango said in a slight whine.

Kito blinked once, a bit surprised. "That sounds like something Morake would say, not you." Kito furrowed his brow as he turned to face the warthog. "Look, I'm not asking you to go a snail's pace. I'm asking you to go a under-the-speeding limit of walking."

"We have a speed limit?"

The young meerkat rolled his eyes. "Never mind. Wouldja just walk so I can make a good impression?"

"All right..." Bango began to back away slowly. Kito remained on his snout while holding the vine. He noticed a bit of the access vine was tickling his foot, so he kicked it forward over the front of Bango's snout. Slowly the vine began to raise Max from the hole. He was out above the hole when suddenly, Bango stopped.

Everyone took notice and turned to Morake. Morake lifted his head up and swished his tail. "Whatcha stop for, Bango?"

Bango's nose twitched as the end of the vine that Kito had kicked was tickling his nose. "Ah-ah-ah--"

"Uh-oh," Timon said with a sense of trouble in his voice. He ducked behind Morake and covered his head. "Batten down the hatches!" Several meerkats ducked down to the ground and covered their heads.

Kito gulped as Bango prepared to sneeze. "No, Bango, _not again!_"

"Ah-_AH-CHOO!_" Bango sneezed, jerking his head forward.

Kito yelped as he was thrown forward by the jerk, pulling the vine with him. Uncle Max screamed as he was raised high over the group's heads, hitting his own on the branch that the vine was draped over when Kito landed. He rubbed his head as Kito was helped to his feet by Timon. "How did I _know_ that was going to happen?" he asked himself. He glared down at a few meerkats who were snickering.

Timon started dusting Kito off a bit. He looked over at Bango and half-laughed, "Good job, Bango. Last time you only threw him about a foot and a quarter. I think you threw him about 2 feet this time."

Kito softly growled as he pawed his father's paws from his fur. "Stop keeping track, would ya?" He finished dusting his fur off with a grumble. "Next time, I'm using a shorter vine." His father grimaced slightly and shook his head.

Bango sniffed and rubbed his snout as he looked at Kito dusting himself off. "Sorry, Kito. When something tickles my nose, I can't help but sneeze."

Kito turned to look at the warthog, and then walked over to him and patted him on his chest. "Nah, Bango. If I had paid attention to where I kicked the vine off, you wouldn't have sneezed." He sighed softly and said just as softly, "There goes another attempt to show my resourcefulness in front of the colony."

"**Kito, don't loosen your grip on that vine!**" Max shouted as he felt he was being lowered slightly.

Kito gulped as he noticed and felt the vine moving through his paw and quickly regained his grip, pulled, and caused Max to hit his head on the branch again. Everyone winced, especially Timon and Kito. Kito asked awkwardly, "Are you all right, Uncle Max?"

Uncle Max growled as he looked down at the young meerkat. "_**All right?**_ The only good that came out of that action was you got that one creak out of my back! Otherwise, I'm getting air sick!"

Timon looked up at his great-uncle, watching him sway back and forth as he ranted. Kito copied his father's actions as he stepped up next to him. "Any suggestions on how I should let him down, Dad?" Kito asked as he kept his eyes on Max.

"How 'bout just letting go? That'll get 'im down in a hurry," Timon grinned as he wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders.

"I heard that, Timon!" Max shouted.

Timon blinked and then mumbled to Kito, "Jerk the line so when he hits his head his hearing goes down another few decibels." He quickly grabbed the vine from Kito when he saw he was about to follow his suggestion. "I didn't mean literally! _Yeesh._"

"Sorry, Dad," Kito sighed and then looked back at the cheetah. "Morake?"

Morake knew exactly what his friend was about to ask, so he stood and walked over to the branch where Uncle Max was hanging from. "I got him, Kito."

"Just don't catch me in your jaws, cub," Uncle Max said with a worried expression. Morake grimaced, and then stood slightly on his back legs to allow Max to stand on his head. Timon released the vine as Morake lowered his head and let Max safely down onto the ground. Max then untied the vine from his waist as he walked past Kito and tossed it at his feet. "Here. If I kept it I'd probably choke you with it later." Kito gulped and grasped onto his neck as he watched Max walk away.

Timon growled as Max walked away, "_You're welcome._" He then looked at Kito's sad expression, smiled, and ruffled his son's hair. Kito gave a small smile; his father's hair ruffling was always a sign of comfort for him, as it was for Timon when his father Buzz did it for him. "Look on the bright side, son; you've invented the pulley."

"Yeah, lot of good _that's_ gonna do in the future, Dad," Kito mumbled. They both noticed the group of meerkats parting from the area, some who were mumbling to each other. Kito could make a few of them out.

"You gotta give him points for trying."

"True, but I can't see him becoming the next Great one anytime soon."

"Yeah... maybe that slingshot trick he pulled at the geysers cave is the best he'll ever do." Kito grimaced as he watched those two walk off. He then felt a paw on his shoulder and looked to the source.

"Don't pay any attention to those guys, pup," Pete said with a smile. "You should know that a larvae doesn't turn into a butterfly overnight. Give it time, keep at it, and soon everyone will see what we already know." He gave the younger meerkat a few pats on the shoulder before he walked away.

Timon and Kito watched the older meerkat walk off. Kito softly grinned. Timon smiled after Pete. He's always been a good friend and supporter to his family, especially to his mother. Although there was a time when he wouldn't be so friendly to Timon, after Timon's father Buzz was killed. But that's another story.

When the group of meerkats was gone Bango and Morake stepped up to the father and son and lowered their faces down to their level. "We got Max out of the hole... so can we eat _now,_ Kito?" Morake asked, swishing his tail.

Kito let out a brief chuckle at the cheetah's subject change. "I don't have much of an appetite now, but I'll grab a side of flies," Kito said with a grin. He looked at Timon. "Wanna join us, Dad?"

"Thanks, but your uncles and I promised the pups we'd put on a little show for them." He raised his arm from around Kito's shoulders, and Kito walked onto Bango's snout. "You guys should learn to make your show look less violent. We don't want the kids scarred for life if they see what you've been working on."

Bango nervously smiled, "Yeah, we discussed that earlier, Uncle Timon. We'll work on that later."

Timon nodded, "Good. Have a good lunch." He then turned and walked away.

When he was out of earshot Morake looked at Kito and asked, "He thinks we're practicing a show instead of practicing fighting predators?"

Kito furrowed his brow as he leaned forward on Morake's nose and looked at him in the face. "Listen, Fearless Buzz and Great Timon didn't need practice to fight off Mataka and Bintaka. I want the colony to think I can do the same thing someday, or I'll find something else to prove I can make a great follow-up to two generations."

"Isn't that lying?" Bango asked with an arched brow.

Kito stood again and feigned innocence. "_What? Me,_ lying? Our elders think we're playing..." He clasped his paws behind his back and looked up at the sky. "I just never corrected them." He shrugged as he turned to look at both of them. "When and if we ever come face to face with a predator, we'll be ready... as long as you guys stick with me with the practicing and all."

Bango grinned and shook his head. He looked at Morake and asked, "Well, how can we say 'no' to that?"

"We can't," Morake said with his tail swishing. "Just as I can't say 'no' to no eats! Can we go_ now, pleeeeeeease?_"

"All right, all right... to the International House of Grubs, my good hog," Kito gestured outward as he sat down on Bango's snout.

Bango nodded and started to walk away with Morake next to him. "I wonder who keeps making these tunnels..." he said.

"I wonder who'd _want_ to make 'em," Morake said with a blink.

Kito was now lying on Bango's snout, resting his paws behind his head. "Well, I don't want to sound like my Dad, _but..._" he began.

"_Yeah?_" both warthog and cheetah asked eagerly.

Kito said in a low tone, "I don't wonder; I _know._"

_To be continued..._


	3. Urges

Chapter 3: 

Shani closed her eyes and leaned her head back as the water washed down over her body. She was standing under one of the small waterfalls in the oasis, and this was one of her favorites to wash up. She scrubbed her hair a bit, and then shook it to get most of the excess water out. She stepped out from under the waterfall and stretched, looking upwards. As she looked upwards she blinked, rubbed her eyes, and looked again.

Her eyes weren't playing tricks on her; there was a warthog standing on a cliff beside the waterfall. The brown warthog was a young female, over a year old. She was hesitant as she inched herself towards the edge of the cliff. She took only a quick glance downwards before she backs away a good three feet. "I hate heights... I wish they were closer to the ground..." she whimpered.

Shani, by this time, had waded back towards the shore, shaking the water out of her fur as she set foot on dry land. She shook her head with a slight grin as she looked up at the warthog, who was walking away from the cliff. "Poor Barika... she tries so hard..." Rather than grab a leaf to use as a towel she merely shook the water off, and smoothed her fur out as best as she could. She took a quick glance around the area... and discovered she was alone. She scurried on top of a nearby rock, standing high on her back feet.

She then got down on all fours and scurried along the rock for a moment. Then she stood on her back legs again and sniffed the air. And then, for no apparent reason, she held up her arms and flinched. She took a quick look around, and then repeated. Scurry, sniff, flinch. Scurry, sniff, flinch...

"Scurry... sniff... flinch..." she muttered to herself as she did each step. "Scurry, sniff... flinch..." She smiled as she began to feel comfortable with each restart of the steps. "Scurry, sniff--"

Then suddenly Barika, the warthog that was on the cliff a few minutes before, appeared in front of Shani. Shani did not notice her until the warthog had spoken. "Hi, Shani!"

Shani responded with a shriek and held up her arms in defense, flinching. "_**FLINCH!**_" The warthog blinked, and then leaned in closer to the meerkat. Shani opened an eye to take a good look at the visitor and relaxed. She stood normally and put a paw on her hip, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, Barika. It's only you."

"Sorry, Shani. Didn't mean to scare you like that," Barika said with a confused blink. "I thought you saw me."

The meerkat licked a paw and smoothed her damp fur out a bit more. "You didn't scare me... you _surprised_ me. I was deep into 'the Zone' and I didn't notice you until you said something, and I was in the direct path of that big pig snout of yours."

"It's not _that_ big..." Barika rubbed her snout with a slightly furrowed brow. "Anyway, what were you doing just now?"

"To be honest, I have _no_ idea. I just had this sudden urge to scurry around, sniff the air, and flinch when nothing was going on," Shani replied as she gestured with her paws.

Barika sighed with a roll of her eyes. "_Another_ urge? Shani, I know you're against it, but you should really talk to your parents about this."

"Oh, no-no-no-no-_**no,**_" Shani responded quickly. "I'm _not_ going to my parents. It's not a big deal! It's probably something all meerkats go through growing up..." She nervously chuckled and tapped her fingertips together. "... That no one else I've seen is doing."

"_Uh-huh_... first you had an urge to start digging," Barika nodded her head to the side, lacking fingers to count with.

"Innocent enough," Shani returned, clasping her paws behind her back. "If you want a big, fat worm that's ducked into its hole, you dig."

"And digging several feet into the ground?"

"He was deep in there!" Shani stomped her foot with her brow furrowed. "And I was hungry."

"No matter what you say, worms don't dig tunnels _that_ wide, _that_ bad, or _that_ many." Shani furrowed her brow deeper and gave a small growl. She jumped off of the rock and went to a nearby bush, covered in flowers. She began to pick a few as Barika continued, "Next you had an urge to look out towards the desert while perched up in a tree."

"It's a good view. Desert as far as the eye can see. Watch the sand drift by... it's almost never the same way twice," the meerkat said with a voice of wonderment. She put the flowers into her mouth as she climbed back onto the rock.

Barika's expression suddenly became dry. "You must've been either _really_ bored or _really_ felt the urge to watch sand for three hours." Shani grimaced, feeling her defenses weakening. "After that you had an urge to groom almost every meerkat you stop and talk to."

"People wanna look their best. I just wanna help out," Shani said with a shrug and a nervous smile. "Kinda like Grandma."

"And _that's_ your best defense?" Barika blinked as she noticed the flowers Shani had just picked. "Those are smaller than what you usually put in my hair."

"Who said anything about putting flowers in your hair? I just felt like picking them," Shani said as she inhaled the flowers and smiled.

"Not _**another **_urge!"

"Picking flowers is _not_ an urge, Barika... at least, I don't _think_ so." She grimaced as she looked down at the flowers. She really didn't know why she picked them.

"Shani, this has been going on for months. You've been doing a lot of weird things and you don't even know the reason." She laid her face down in front of Shani. "Why won't you talk to your parents, or at least someone older?"

Shani looked at Barika, and then exhaled and leaned her weight against her snout. She looked at the flowers in her paws. "I can't help but go along with all these urges. I-It's like there's some voice in my head telling me to do all this stuff." She laid most of the flowers down, leaving only a single flower in her paws. She rubbed a petal between her fingers. "I would've told someone if not _everyone_ by now, but I saw how they reacted when they found my first tunnel... and I got scared. It's the same way every time. What'll they do when they find out it's me? What would they think about all the other stuff I've been doing?" She said in a soft tone, "They'll think I'm some kind of freak, and I'll become an outcast."

Barika thought for a moment to steer her cousin away from such a thought. "Maybe they don't like holes and broken tunnels because they go against the décor. People hate when things clash."

"Yeah, maybe. I hope that's all it is." Shani sighed.

Knowing Shani all of her life Barika could sense when something was wrong. She could tell there was another reason for that sigh. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

Shani softly gasped, a bit surprised at that question. She quickly looked down at her feet and lied, "No."

Barika softly smiled as she looked at her cousin. "Come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. I haven't told anyone about these urges yet, and I'm not going to. Friends stick together 'til the end, remember?" She gave the meerkat a light nudge. "Besides, you might feel better if you let it into the open."

Shani looked at the warthog's smile, and lightly chuckled. "All right, Rika..." She then sat down on the rock, leaned back and looked upwards through the treetops and at the sky. "Fearless Buzz, Great Timon, Kito. What do they have in common?"

"They're all related to you?"

Shani shook her head. "Besides that."

Barika scrunched her face as she thought hard. She couldn't think of another logical connection. "Three generations?"

Shani furrowed her brow slightly and closed her eyes. "_Yes,_ but what I'm getting at is, they're all males."

"Right," Barika nervously smiled. "But is there a point to this? I mean, what's wrong with being males?"

"Nothing, except..." The meerkat exhaled and opened her eyes again. "How do I explain this?" she asked herself. She took a deep breath and pulled a petal off of the flower in her paw, letting the petal flutter to the ground next to her. "Grandpa Buzz started the legacy of greatness by being the first meerkat ever to stand up to a hyena and send it running. But then he was killed by the rest of the pack."

"That's always a sad story, but I like hearing it," Barika said with a sniffle.

Shani continued as she pulled another petal from the flower, "Dad came later, tricking a pack of hyenas to fall into a trap at the Battle of Pride Rock, bringing the family to this oasis, fighting the same hyena and lived, tricked the hyena into falling to his death, brought our two colonies together, and then he tricked the hyena's son to his death a year ago."

Barika nodded, "That's a lot. I'm sorry, but where are you going with this?"

Shani sat up and sighed, looking at the two flower petals lying next to her. "I'm saying the last two meerkats to make a name for themselves were males, father and the elder son. And now the colony assumes the next great one in the following generation will also be male--" Another petal was pulled off. Shani held it close to her face, and then let it fall as she finished, "The elder son of Great Timon."

"That means Kito," Barika said with understanding in her voice.

"Yeah, Kito." Shani's expression saddened as she looked at the last pedal on the flower. She twirled the flower between the fingers, still with the sad face. "And what about the _daughter_ of Great Timon? Is the only recognition I'm ever gonna get is being the Savior's eldest daughter?" She tossed the flower aside, hugged her legs up to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees. "Because I'm a female no one will _ever_ consider me one of the Great ones. That's not how I wanna be remembered... as just a name with no story."

"Well, if they find out about your digging--" Barika began, but gulped at the meerkat's annoyed expression. "What I mean is, maybe you're doing this digging thing to get some attention, since everyone seems to be focusing on Kito's attempts to be known as the next Great one. But no one besides me knows that you're the one doing it."

Shani lowered her eyes slightly. "It's an _urge,_ Rika, and I can't control it. It can't be a cry for attention." She hugged her legs tighter to her chest. "I'm scared to think of what my parents will say if they find out. Dad never seems too happy whenever he finds a tunnel... almost looked like he was going to be sick."

"I wonder why," Barika said to herself.

"... Maybe he's allergic." Suddenly Shani jumped to her feet, clutched a paw over her throat, lightly touched the back of her wrist to her forehead, looking overly dramatic. "'Tunnel... _can't breathe..._ _**asthma...!**_'" She let out some coughs and a loud gasp and fell forward, catching herself on Barika's snout. They looked at each other, and then started laughing. Shani's attempts to brighten her mood had worked.

"Seriously, if he were really allergic he'd do that every time he came near a tunnel," Barika giggled.

Shani let out a few more giggles as she wiped her eye. "Yeah, you're right. But there's gotta be some kind of reason." She collected her flowers, then climbed onto the warthog's snout and onto her head. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Well, I had my scare for the day," Barika nodded her head towards the cliff. "So how about we take in a show?"

"We may be a little late, but that sounds great. The good part's always near the end," Shani grinned as Barika turned her head to walk away from the area. The meerkat rested her elbow's on the warthog's head, looking like she had something on her mind. _My Dad always tells those stories like he actually lived them and he puts on a show like they actually happened... not that I didn't love the stories when I was younger, but I wish he would stop lying that they actually happened when it's just me or Kito..._

_To be continued..._


	4. ReEnactment

EDIT: Changed Habali's name to Kano...I'll let you know why at a later date. 

Chapter 4:

Pumbaa stood glowering as Timon tied two large broad leaves onto his ears with a small, thin piece of vine. "Why do _I _have to be Bintaka every time?" he asked as the meerkat walked onto his snout.

"Because Morake plays rough, Jina and Barika are female which rules them out, and Bango isn't nearly large enough to pass as a hyena. If we want accuracy you're about the best we can get," Timon said as he counted the candidates on his fingers. "When Bango's officially an adult, then we'll talk."

"And by that time people won't want to hear the story anymore," Pumbaa said with a slight whine.

Timon's brother-in-law Sudi approached the two of them with a large, black berry in his paws. "I can only hope." He tossed the berry up to Timon, who furrowed his brow as he caught it. "Well, I'm sorry, Timon, but I can only stand doing this re-enactment so many times. We've been doing it at least three times a month since Sly and Morake came to live with us."

"That's because the kids love the re-enactments, Sudi," Timon said as he tied the berry to the front of Pumbaa's snout. "And _why not,_ I ask you? Because I consider the defeat of Bintaka as one of my greatest accomplishments. It should be remembered as well as when my father fought Mataka, and don't forget that I beat him, too."

Sudi sucked some air through his teeth before he responded. "I don't wanna sound mean, Timon, but--"

"If you don't wanna sound mean, then don't make a sound. I'm already in a semi-annoyed mood with finding another tunnel." Timon jumped off Pumbaa's snout and onto the ground. He walked over to a rock to sit down, reached over and grabbed a crudely made clay cast for his foot.

"I _still_ can't believe we haven't figured out who's making them yet," Pumbaa said. "I mean, it's been going on for quite a few months, and you kinda hope you have _some_ kind of clue by this time."

Sudi sat down in front of Timon and helped to shove his right foot into the clay cast. "Well, if you asked me--"

"Which we didn't--" Timon added as Sudi paused.

Sudi continued, "It's gotta be one of the pups in the colony, or one of the younger adults."

"Don't be ridiculous, Sudi," Timon grunted as the cast was shoved onto his foot. "The pups born in the oasis never showed any sign that they wanted to dig before. They quickly caught on to the Hakuna Matata lifestyle."

"You gotta admit, it _would_ make sense, Timon," Pumbaa spoke up. "The pups aren't taught to dig tunnels, but then again they weren't taught to ignore years of meerkat instinct either." He arched a brow at Timon. "Especially when you _don't_ tell your own pups about what life was like before the oasis."

Timon shrugged as he stood. "What's to tell? We dig, we hide, we stand guard, we run... that's all we ever did."

Sudi grinned slightly as he watched Timon walk over to a tree, where a strong stick was propped up. "You sure you're not just avoiding telling the pups about your 'tunnel klutz' days?" Timon cringed and growled as he looked over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. Sudi softened his tone slightly. "I know those were cruel days when no one but Panya would look your way with a smile, but they have a right to know what their father's life used to be like. You've never even taken your kids to see Buzz's grave, or take Shani beyond _Pride Rock_ for that matter."

"You know it's dangerous out there... I'm just trying to keep her safe. We're at the bottom of the food chain out there, remember?" Timon picked the propped up stick and leaned against it like a cane. "Kito can go out there mostly because he's been out there before and he has supervision, normally found in Bango and Morake, and sometimes Pumbaa."

"And if Barika ever got over her fear of heights at Pride Rock you'd let her take Shani out?"

"She's never been out in the Pride Lands before," Pumbaa replied, shaking his head. "She'd get lost."

"And frankly, even though we used to live with those lions I don't trust leaving her alone with carnivores. The ones I do trust are normally busy with royal duties anyway. Now let's change the subject and get on with the show." He took a quick glance around the area and furrowed his brow. "_All right,_ where's Mr. Duel Identities?"

"Up in the tree, waiting for the show to start," Sudi jerked his head towards a branch of a tree, where a meerkat could be seen lying on his back.

"I hope he doesn't lose focus again. That was embarrassing last time."

Sudi grinned as Timon walked past him with the stick. "Sly may be your brother, Timon, but he doesn't completely take after you." Timon snorted and continued to walk away. Sudi looked back at Pumbaa, who had returned to glowering. "You may as well get it over with, big guy."

Pumbaa nodded and sighed as he began to follow after Timon. "Someday I won't play the villain, _right?_"

_Ten minutes later..._

A group of meerkat pups sat up front, eagerly watching the crudely-made sticks shaped like meerkats and hyenas provided by Sudi, who was hiding behind a rock. Behind the pups were six adults, among them included Timon's mother Panya, his mate and Sudi's sister Zuri, and Sudi's own mate Penda. The pups gasped and then clapped as Timon rolled away from Pumbaa, who was acting as a hyena.

Timon spat, as if he had just bitten the warthog acting as a hyena in the leg. "You don't _clean_ there, do you?" He began to stand, but then pretended he was in pain, lifting his right foot above the ground. His cast had shattered during the roll. "_Ow,_ my toe...!"

"His cast broke! He won't be able to run away without going 'ow'!" one of the pups whispered to the others as Timon and Pumbaa continued.

"Mr. Pumbaa's gonna eat Uncle Timon!" another whispered.

"I'll bet he tastes like chicken," another said curiously.

"_Shh._ Watch the show," Penda whispered as she leaned forward, putting a paw on the pup's head. She leaned back and chuckled, as did Zuri. "So cute."

"... I can only hurt you while you're _still alive!_" Pumbaa made a lunge at Timon... and then paused when he was mere inches away. Timon had his eyes shut tightly, but he soon reopened them. Pumbaa waited a moment before he cleared his throat and said louder, "I _said,_ 'I can only hurt you while you're still alive!'" Again, nothing. He sat down and tapped his front hoof as Timon folded his arms in front of his chest, also tapping his foot.

"Is that suppose to happen?" a pup asked at normal speaking level.

"_Oy,_ not again," Panya said, rubbing her forehead.

Timon glanced up at the tree they were standing directly under, where a meerkat was seen lying on a branch. He was lying on his back and looking up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. Timon furrowed his brow and called up to him, "Hey, Sly, I'm getting _eaten_ here!" No response. Timon tapped his foot more, faster this time than previously. "... He says I taste like chicken!" Again, no response.

A pup giggled, "I was right."

Timon sighed and put his paws into a "time out" position. "Intermission!" Sudi came out of his hiding spot and sat down on a rock. Pumbaa sat down as Timon stomped over to the stick he picked up earlier, and then stomped back to the tree with it. He knocked on the trunk of the tree with the stick and called up, "He says he wants dessert! That means _you,_ Titus Sylvester!"

That did it. This time there was a reaction. "_Guhh,_ both names!" The meerkat cringed and sat up, glaring down at Timon. "How many times have I told you--!" he growled, and then blinked when he noticed the audience. "... Whoops." He nervously chuckled. "I missed my cue, didn't I?"

"Maybe a little bit..." And then Timon shouted, "_**Like me being chewed up and swallowed!**_"

Panya looked up at Sly and then down at Timon, and then cleared her throat as she stood. "Looks like the show's postponed for now, so why don't you kids go play?"

"Awww..." the pups pouted as they stood and were ushered away by the other adults. Zuri, Panya, and Penda stayed behind. Sly dropped down from the vine that was tied to his ankles, untying it when he reached the ground. Timon helped him to keep his balance as he untied himself.

"So much for today's accurate history lesson," Sudi said as tossed his stick puppets aside.

Pumbaa shook his head hard to get the leaves off his ears and then rubbed his snout to get the berry off. "I thought we were doing a re-enactment?"

"That depends on who you ask, Pumbaa," Sly said as he dusted himself off. "Personally I thought it was just a show for the kids who got bored of the story being told regularly, and wanted to see adults act like idiots for the sake of entertainment."

"I prefer to call it a low-budget stage show," Timon said as he folded his arms across his chest. "It'd be better, but we've got sentries on the look-out for whoever's making these tunnels. And those sentries have sentries... and those sentries who have sentries have sentries."

Zuri stepped up to Timon and leaned against him. "Yeah, I heard about Uncle Max. He must've become some kind of tunnel magnet." She let out a few giggles.

Timon gave his mate an irritated look. "You're thinking about my 'tunnel klutz' days, aren't you? You always get some kind of kick out of 'em." Zuri let out a few more giggles as she stood on her own.

Penda chuckled. "I'm sorry to say, Timon, but those _are_ amusing stories," she spoke up. "At least they're amusing _now_ because we live in a society without regular tunnel digging... current mystery diggers excluded."

"It was anything _but_ amusing, Penda, even before Buzz died," Panya said as she stepped up next to Timon. She licked a paw, pulled him down to her level, and combed his hair, to which Timon glowered slightly. "Timon never did well in the digging crew at any age. He was never seriously injured by anyone… although he almost was once or twice."

Timon pulled away from his mother, looking a bit desperate. "Ma, _please._ I don't need to be reminded of Kano…" His combed down hair poofed up, and then he fixed it to its normal mess. "Too late, I just thought of him."

"Who's Kano?" Pumbaa asked.

"A strong meerkat with a very short fuse and not above striking down pups if they anger him," Panya said, looking like she was slowly growing angry from the memory.

"But there's no Kano in the colony… did he get eaten before you came to the oasis?" Zuri asked.

"Not exactly."

"Did we miss the show?" The group suddenly became silent as Barika approached the group. Shani was perched on top of the warthog's head. Barika stopped near them and sighed. "I _knew_ we were gonna miss it."

"We missed it because we got sidetracked by those beetles," Shani said, resting her chin in her paw.

"But they were _huge_ and _so_ tempting..."

"You're telling _me?_" Shani dusted herself off and coughed once. "_I_ was the one to dive in under that tree after them. Too bad they were kinda bitter."

"Eh, you didn't miss the show... it's just kinda postponed for a while," Sly spoke up. He then cleared his throat and began to walk away. "I'm gonna go clear my head for a while, and then I'll come back and won't miss my cue."

"Good luck with that," Timon called after his brother.

"Guess that gives us a little more time. We'd better go check on the pups," Penda said as she tugged on Sudi's paws, pulling him away from the group.

Panya noticed the group had begun to shrink, and decided to continue it. She took Zuri by the wrist and began to lead her away. "I'll tell you about him without Timon with us." Zuri nodded and walked away with her. Timon grimaced as he watched them go.

Shani blinked at the departing meerkats, and then tilted her head to the side, sensing some uneasiness from Timon. She slid of Barika's side and approached him. "Is something wrong, Dad? I've got these vibes..."

Timon cleared his throat and put on a smile when his daughter stopped in front of him. "Of course not! Your Uncle Sly just messed up his part in the re-enactment, and earlier your Uncle Max found another tunnel. I'm just a little annoyed."

Shani nervously smiled as Timon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Another one, huh?" Barika, who had walked over next to her father Pumbaa, looked worriedly at Shani. She wished she would be honest with her parents. Shani, meanwhile, wanted some answers to her questions without her being suspected as the mystery digger. "Say, why are you against tunnels anyway?" She tried to look annoyed. "No one's ever told me the reason. I mean, it's just a bunch of holes in the ground."

Timon blinked, somewhat surprised at her question. He didn't want to tell her about his old life before the oasis. "Well... uh... I'm against tunnels because... well, lemme put it to you this way: tunnels are like potholes."

"_Potholes?_" Shani asked with a wrinkled brow and nose.

"_Potholes?_" both Pumbaa and Barika asked each other.

"Yes, potholes. They're a hazard risk. Not healthy. Take what's been happening to Uncle Max lately, for example. He's walking along, thinking about sticking his nose into somebody else's business, steps onto a bed of sticks and leaves that's covering a hole, and then wham! He drops four feet into the earth. He hasn't gotten seriously hurt yet, but he won't always be lucky. At least if someone keeps trying to cover up their little fox hole."

"A _fox_ has been digging the holes?" Shani asked, looking confused. "... Wait, a second. What's a fox?"

Timon waved his paw. "Never mind. The point is, tunnels are ugly, stir up a lot of dirt, are hard to get rid of and fixed to grow grass again, and are dangerous. The wrong move or start digging too close to the surface can be dangerous. Soon as we find out who's been digging we'll set them straight." Shani winced softly, trying to think about what he would have in mind.

She wanted to get as many answers as she could without being considered weird for asking. She said with a half-amused chuckle, "Why would someone want to dig anyway?"

Her father merely shrugged. "Ya got me, kid. Aside from going after some bugs I never liked dig--" Timon gulped when he realized he said too much. Shani gasped and ducked out from under his arm. Barika swallowed as she watched. Pumbaa's face winced at Timon's slip.

"_What?_ Dad, you... you used to dig?" Shani was hurt, but tried not to look it. Instead she tried to look confused. The expression she let her father see was a mixture of both.

Pumbaa arched a brow at Timon, as if telling him to tell her the truth about meerkats. The meerkat noticed, and sighed. "Not just me, Shani... your mother, grandmothers and grandfathers, your aunts and uncles... the whole colony used to dig tunnels." Shani let out a few confused breathes of air, trying to understand. Timon clasped a paw onto her shoulder. "Look, a long time ago before Uncle Simba became king all we ever did was dig tunnels to hide and hide to dig. It was a shameful existence. It's the same for every meerkat colony outside of the oasis. But since we came here we never had a need for digging or hiding."

"I... see..." Shani meant it more than she let on. "We _used_ to dig, but now we don't because we don't have to hide. Our colony's no longer shameful."

"That's right," Timon smiled and released her shoulder. "Makes me glad we live in the oasis, where it's safe. Now I think I'll finish that nap that Uncle Max so rudely interrupted earlier." Timon scurried onto Pumbaa's back. "We'll see you later, girls. Let's go, Pumbaa." Pumbaa nodded, gave Barika a light nudge before he walked away, leaving Shani and Barika alone.

Barika waited until they were out of sight before she padded over to Shani and lowered her face to her level. "Can you believe it? You're _not_ doing weird stuff!" she said cheerfully.

Shani watched after the direction Timon and Pumbaa left. "Yes, I am. Meerkats don't do that 'weird stuff' anymore, but _I am_ doing that 'weird stuff.' Why would he never tell us about it?" She looked hurt. "Here I've always felt out of place because of those urges, and... and it's _hereditary?_ We used to dig?"

"Then maybe Kito has those same urges! You wouldn't be so alone."

Shani's eyebrows jumped. "... I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask." She scurried on top of Barika's back, who began to walk away from the area in search of Kito. "I just hope he doesn't put two and two together..."

_To be continued..._


	5. Any Regrets?

It's a fairly short chapter, but felt I had to put it in somewhere and I couldn't get it beyond two pages. Hope ya like. 

Chapter 5:

Sly ran a paw through his dark hair as he walked along the oasis floor. He was scolding himself for letting his thoughts distract him at a time when his elder brother was counting on him. A year ago when the event they were re-creating had actually happened he was there in a heartbeat to snatch Timon out of harm's way. And it wasn't the first time he was distracted by his thoughts enough to forget what he was suppose to do.

"You've got that look on your face, Sly," a female's voice interrupted his thoughts. Sly jumped slightly and turned to the source of the voice. It was Pumbaa's mate Jina, a brown warthog, who wat sitting in front of a small group of fruits. She was chewing on one when she noticed Sly walking by. She swallowed and wiped the juices off the side of her mouth. "Wanna talk about it?"

Sly clicked his tongue, uncertain. "Well... uh..."

"Sit." Obediently Sly sat down next to her. "Speak." The meerkat arched a brow at her, to which Jina gave a nervous smile. "Sorry. What's the buzz?"

"Not much. I missed my cue in the re-enactment again."

There was a moment of silence before Jina asked, "_So...?_"

"So what?" Sly blinked.

"Why did you miss your cue?"

Sly exhaled as he hiked his leg up and rested his arm on top it. "I guess... well, it reminds me of everything that happened a year ago. I had a headache from all the questions that were floating around in my head from those old dreams, I learned about my real birth family, half of my old colony was killed by hyenas, Sengbe soon following, and I left the colony to come here, where I found a place to belong."

Jina scooped up another piece of fruit into her mouth as Sly explained. "You sound like you have regrets. Do you?" she asked with a full mouth.

"No," Sly shook his head. "But since coming here I've often wondered what happened to the colony. How are they? Where are they now? How are they holding up without me?" He softly exhaled through his nose. "How is Yasmin handling being the leader without me or Sengbe?"

Jina swallowed the piece of fruit and smiled. "Don't give yourself a headache with these questions now, Sly. But I _would_ wonder how Yasmin was doing emotionally... she seemed so depressed when you left."

"She was in love with me, Jina. You're not exactly happy when your love interest is leaving you behind."

"No, I guess not." The warthog tilted her head to the side, a bit curious. "If you don't mind my asking, how did _you_ feel about Yasmin? I mean... did _you_ love _her?_"

Sly swallowed at that question. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think. And then he shook his head again. "I loved her... but I wasn't _in_ love with her. But I never really gave her a chance because I still thought about Zuri. I thought I was still in love with her even though we've been apart."

"But you're not... are you?"

"Not in the same way. I came to terms that Timon is better for her." He turned slightly so he could lean back against Jina and rested his paws behind his head. "I look at Timon and Zuri together and I feel like I'm missing out on something, and then I keep thinking back to Yasmin and the colony."

Jina lowered her face down to Sly's level with a sympathetic face. "You miss her, don't you?" she asked gently.

Sly smirked slightly, "Well, I _do_ kinda miss her perkiness and how she used to flirt with me." Jina giggled. "Maybe I miss her more than I think... but then again, I didn't even look back when I left."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Sly closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. "... I didn't want to see her when she had that heartbreaking face." Jina's face softened more, looking concerned. Sly then sat up and tossled his hair a couple of times. "Ahh, it can't be helped, I guess. I just have to keep my mind away from those days while trying to put on a show for the pups."

Jina raised her head back to its normal level. "That might be a wise." She felt Sly stand and watched as he stretched. "But if you feel like getting some things related to those days off your chest, feel free to come to me."

"I will..." He turned to look up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Jina."

"Anytime." Sly gave the warthog a pat on the side, and then continued down the path, leaving her alone to finish eating her fruits.

_I didn't look back... but sometimes I feel like I should've._

_To be continued..._


	6. Violent Temper

In case you guys didn't notice the edit in the 4th chapter, I changed Habali's name to Kano. Again, I'll explain the reason later on. And I'll most likely list Timon's Ma as Panya from now on, so's not to confuse when Kito and Shani address Zuri as "Ma." 

Chapter 6:

"Was this Kano _really_ that bad?" Zuri had asked her mother-in-law Panya after they had come to stop by the hot tub. They sat down on the edge and let their feet dangle over the water.

"I guess it depends on who you asked," Panya replied. "But I remember Kano having a very short temper, and he couldn't always control his actions. If anyone upset him enough, he would do something about it, regardless of age. You can imagine how it was for Timon, who wasn't exactly the greatest digger in the world."

Zuri softly gasped, and furrowed her brow slightly. "He actually _attacked_ him?"

"Only once physically, when he was four months old. It may have been more times, but Buzz was always there to be between them. He would give Timon verbal threats, and the look in his eyes said he would make good of them if Buzz wasn't there."

"So when he attacked, Buzz wasn't there?"

With a deeply furrowed brow Panya softly sighed. "You remember when I told you about the day Pete got that scar on his back, don't you?" Zuri was silent a moment, and then she nodded. "This happened a few days after that. Pete was feeling well enough to start working again, but he had to take it easy..."

_6 ½ years ago..._

The meerkats were singing their digging tune as they went to work, digging the tunnels, carrying stones and sticks, and the like. Pete was working slower than usual as he helped Timon's father Buzz carry a large stick.

Buzz, who was behind Pete, looked at the large red scab on his friend's back. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Pete, but shouldn't you wait another week or two before going back to work? It might reopen."

Pete looked back at Buzz and grinned slightly. "Nah, I talked to Max about it. He said so long as I don't overdue it I can do some mild manual labor. I'll be back on the rock placement and digging crews before you know it." He let out a few chuckles, and then softly winced. A few days before Timon was going out to gather his own grubs, and after he had captured a scorpion a Martial eagle had its sights set on a meerkat pup appetizer. Buzz went to save him while Pete served as a distraction. Pete got tagged by the eagle in the process, but he made it back to the tunnel alive, a rarity indeed for meerkats.

Buzz grimaced slightly when he heard his friend wince. "Like Uncle Max said, don't work too hard, OK, pal? Timon's feeling real guilty about the other day, and if you hurt yourself more--"

"Relax, _Mom,_ I know better than to hurt myself on purpose," Pete said in a joking tone. "But seriously, Buzz, the pup's gotta learn that this kind of thing happens, whether you're trying to save someone or you're just unlucky. We may be fated to be someone else's dinner, but that doesn't mean we don't try to help each other." He stopped walking, causing Buzz to stop. Pete then looked back at him again with a softened look. "Besides, I'd rather carry a scar that everyone can see for the rest of my life than to see you and Panya carry a second scar no one can see after losing another pup so soon."

Buzz smiled slightly. "Thanks, Pete." They then continued to walk along, carrying the stick over their heads. Lightening the mood a little he arched his brow at the scab. "And I can tell it _is_ going to be a real nice scar."

Pete smirked. "Then I'll have something to brag about, won't I? 'This is the scar I got while fending off a Martial eagle all by myself!' Girls will love it!" Buzz shook his head and grinned. "So where _is_ Timon?"

"I told him to meet me in the next tunnel. After we carry the rest of these sticks in I'm giving him another digging lesson." Pete looked back at him with a nervous expression. Buzz furrowed his brow at that. "Come _on,_ Pete. He caught a scorpion all by himself the other day, without me teaching him how. I'll give him the lessons, hope that instinct will kick in, and he'll be a better digger."

They both froze when they heard some crackling nearby. Many meerkats stopped their activities when they heard it, and mumbled their disapprovals. The tunnel around them began to come down on them, followed by some rocks, one of which hit one meerkat on the head. Soon that portion of the tunnel was destroyed and exposed to the surface. Many meerkats climbed out of the mess, dusting themselves off and mumbling.

Buzz climbed out of the mess and helped Pete out, who let out a few coughs. "What was that you were saying, Buzz?" he asked with an arched brow. Buzz let out a nervous chuckle and ran a paw through his hair.

"I was saying I'd better go get some sticks for the rebuild," Buzz replied as he walked towards the rock and tree sentry point, dusting himself off.

Pete rolled his eyes slightly as he reached down into the hole he emerged from and began to pull up the stick they were carrying moments before. He dropped it as he winced, feeling his back beginning to hurt. Reaching back with his paw he felt around on his back and softly winced again. As he brought his paw back forward he noticed a touch of red on his paw and grunted softly. He started to stand to leave until he heard a muffled sound nearby. He scurried over to the mound of dirt where the muffled sound came from. He put his ear to the mound, and then began to dig. Suddenly two small feet began to kick when they were revealed under the dirt, and Pete yelped in surprise.

"_Yah!_ Something touched me! _Mom! Dad! __**Somebody! HELP!**_" a pup's muffled voice whined as his feet continued to kick wildly.

"Easy,_ easy!_ Is that you, Timon?"

The feet stopped kicking when the pup recognized the voice. "Pete? ... Did I beat my last record?" Pete clicked his tongue as he removed some more dirt and pulled the pup out of the dirt by his feet and then set him upright. Timon, four months old, shook his head a few times, letting dirt fly off and out of his fur. "Wow. I always suspected warm-ups were dangerous." He continued to dust himself off as Pete wrinkled his nose slightly.

"Tch... just _when_ is his digging instinct suppose to kick in, Buzz?" Pete said under his breath. He shrugged to himself and looked as other meerkats were emerging from the dirt. When he saw one particular meerkat he tensed slightly.

"It was that _runt_ again, wasn't it?" a meerkat growled. The meerkat had dark red hair and had a small bit of muscles, but nothing compared to Buzz. He did have more muscles than the average meerkat. He was rubbing his head where the rock had hit him. "He almost _killed_ me that time! Where is he? I _swear_ I'll set him straight this time!" He looked amongst the crowd of meerkats. Pete silently cursed at the meerkat's mood, and then he jumped slightly when he felt something small cling to him from behind. Without looking he relaxed, knowing full well who it was.

Timon, who was obviously afraid of this particular meerkat, had hidden himself behind Pete to keep out of his view, clinging to him lightly. "I think I got Mr. Kano really mad this time," Timon said softly. "He never got hit on the head before."

Pete nodded slightly. "Just be quiet and sneak past him before he spots you," Pete instructed softly, keeping his eyes on the meerkat called Kano, whose back was to them. Timon whimpered as he nodded, got down low to the ground, and started crawling past the crowd. The pup set his sights ahead, where the tunnel was still whole. He suddenly grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his side and rolled down the mound of dirt and onto solid ground, landing on his back. Pete witnessed the attack when Kano kicked Timon in the side, sending him rolling. "_Timon!_" He slid down the hill after Kano and quickly stepped in front of Timon, keeping him away. "Don't touch him, Kano!"

Kano stood mere inches away from Pete, arching an eyebrow at the small bit of blood that trickled off Pete's back and onto the ground. Timon had a touch of the blood on his chest from when he clung onto Pete. "Did he hurt you again, Peter? That's twice in one week." He looked to Timon and growled. Timon whimpered as he inched away.

"My injury is not your concern, nor is the reason why I'm bleeding now, so leave Timon out of it before I make you regret it," Pete growled softly.

Kano reached down and picked up a broken-off section of a support stick. It was thinner, splintered, pointed at one end, and was about two inches taller than he was. "All right... make me regret it." He took the end of the stick without the point and shoved it into Pete's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Kano pushed him aside and onto the ground. Timon saw Pete fall over and then he began to scramble to his feet to get away from Kano. He felt a foot on his back push him down to the ground, onto his stomach this time. Timon gulped and looked back at Kano, who was raising the stick over his head. Timon stared with wide, scared eyes, and then braced himself as he saw the stick coming down towards him.

He suddenly heard a kind of _clunk,_ like two sticks hitting each other. The pup didn't feel any pain, but he could hear a slight creak right above his head. He opened his eyes slightly, and then all the way when he saw what had happened. Buzz was standing over him, holding Kano's stick back with a larger support stick, which looked more like a walking stick for meerkats. He was bringing back several various-sized sticks when he heard some commotion and hurried down. Kano was raising the stick over his head to strike Timon, and Buzz rushed down just in time to block it with the stick he was using now, saving the pup from serious injury. Buzz wasn't afraid to show his anger or his teeth as he pushed back on Kano's stick, who was still intent on using it.

"I've told you before, Kano..." Buzz snarled with a grunt as he pushed against the stick. "Hurt my son even _a little..._" He grunted as he managed to knock the stick from Kano's grip and then lunged at him. "_**And I'll hurt you a lot!**_" Timon scrambled away as his father and the other meerkat started to exchange blows. The commotion brought the rest of the colony over, including--

"_Timmy!_" Panya dropped the leaf she was using to gathering supper as she rushed down the mound of dirt to meet with Timon.

"_Mom..._" Timon panted as his mother reached him and wrapped her arms around him. The pup felt safer already in his mother's arms. Other meerkats rushed to the two brawling meerkats, pulling them apart. Both of them let out a few struggles, wanting to finish the fight on their own, but Buzz quickly calmed down when he saw his mate's face begging him not to. Buzz had a few visible bruises, a cut on the side of his lip, and a few slashes on his left arm, while Kano had a black eye and a few slashes on his chest and right hip. They both panted heavily.

The moment became quiet as Max, with brown hair, marched down the mound and towards the scene, tapping a twig he used as a crop in the palm of his paw. "_What happened?_" he asked in a low but demanding voice. He took a look at physical state of his nephew Buzz and Kano, and then took a glance at Panya, holding Timon close to her. "Couldn't hold back anymore, could you, Buzz?"

"He tried to strike my son, Uncle Max," Buzz continued to pant. "He's too young to defend himself, so I--"

"He's too young to be considered a _freak accident_ waiting to happen, but we've all accepted it," Kano growled. Timon cowered slightly, and felt his mother put a paw on his head.

Buzz clenched his fist and growled, "Say that again and I'll--!"

"All he'll ever be is a walking demolition squad, and you _know_ it! He can't defend himself _or_ dig a decent tunnel! He's worthless! I don't even _wanna_ know what his own pups will be like, or what kind of _pathetic_ mate he ends up with!" Kano scoffed. "What am I saying? He may be your son, Buzz, but that doesn't mean he'll make it to through the competition for mating rights just like his daddy." Buzz growled and started to lunge at him, but was once again held back by other meerkats. "That is, if he even _lives_ to adulthood."

"**_If I hear you badmouth Timon one more time--!_**"

"_**That's enough!**_" Max spoke up, silencing Buzz. When it seemed Buzz had calmed down enough, he was released. He turned to Kano and sneered. "I've had it with your temper, Kano. Nearly every time you get angry you injure someone." He looked at Pete, who was wincing and being helped back to his feet by two other meerkats. "Pete was already hurt, but that didn't stop you from adding to it, did it? He was able to work, but now he'll have to rest again." He glanced over at Timon as he spoke. "As I've told you _numerous_ times Timon is only a pup who is still learning how to become a digger, and accidents are expected to happen... but that didn't stop you from attempting to 'set him straight,' did it? That's his parents' job, not yours."

"Why are _you_ defending him? You know as well as I that the other pups never cause this kind of accident... because Timon _is _an accident," Kano replied in a low tone. Buzz heard it, and replied to it with a fist to Kano's jaw, sending him flying back. Kano landed hard, groaning with clenched teeth and a paw to his jaw.

Buzz was rubbing his fist, sneering at the fallen meerkat. "We gave you enough chances, and you blew every last one of them. If you can't handle living under the same earth as Timon, then find someplace where your temper is tolerated, because it's _not_ here anymore."

Kano's eyebrows jumped slightly, turning to Max. "Max--"

"You heard him, Kano," Max said with a serious face. "I don't want another day like this repeating itself, not _here._ Now _get out._" Many meerkats agreed out loud.

Kano furrowed his brow as he stood, dusting himself off. He threw a glance at Timon, who was still in his mother's arms. "Go find a hyena to play with, runt, because all you are here is wasted space." Timon cowered slightly as Panya growled at Kano. Kano smirked as he turned and walked away from the mob, soon into the distance and out of sight. Soon most of the meerkats cleared the sight, preparing to go back to work. Pete was also helped back into the intact part of the tunnel.

Buzz exhaled and wiped the side of his mouth, spotting the blood wiped onto his paw. "Well, _that's_ pretty," he said sarcastically. He stretched a bit and winced slightly. "Great... I'm gonna be sore for a couple of days."

"I'm sorry, Dad." Buzz turned to a small voice, seeing that it was Timon, who had gotten out of Panya's arms and walked over to his father. "I got Kano mad, and you and Pete got hurt because if it. I'm sorry." Timon was avoiding eye contact by looking down at his feet.

Buzz softly exhaled through his nose as he knelt down to Timon and put it paws onto his shoulders. "Hey, this is nothing compared to what he could've done to _you._ I'd rather take a beating than to see you get one." He took hold of his son's chin to raise his face to his, and smiled softly. "And don't listen to _anything_ that Kano said about you. You're not worthless _or_ wasted space."

"Then... I'm not an accident either?"

"No... you're not an accident," Buzz softly said as he pulled Timon into a hug. Timon sniffled as he returned the hug. "You're not an accident," he repeated. They stayed that way for several moments as Panya stood nearby, smiling to see the tender moment and forgetting what had happened moments before.

_Present..._

"And later I was told the whole story, and it made me feel happier that he finally was gone," Panya finished telling her story.

Zuri let out a relieved breath at the end. "He had a violent temper. The things he did... the things he _said..._ Oh, poor Timon. I can see why he didn't want to remember him."

"Soon after that Buzz decided to teach Timon how to defend himself with play-fights. That was one of Timon's favorite things, but he could only get his father to play the way he wanted to play. But it was more father-son time so they were closer by the time Buzz died."

Zuri was silent for a moment, and then she stood and stretched a moment. "I'm going to go see Timon. After hearing that story I just wanna be with him."

Panya smiled and nodded. "Go ahead." Zuri smiled as she passed her, patting her shoulder as she walked away and left her alone. After that story Panya wondered what had happened to Kano. But then, she didn't really care for him, either.

_To be continued..._


	7. He's Just Dad

Chapter 7: 

Bango sat down next to Morake with a yawn. Morake was lying on his side, the tip of his tail wagging slowly. They had just finished eating and the two of them were stuffed. Kito didn't have much of an appetite, so the same couldn't be said for him. He was standing in front of his friends, folding his arms in front of his chest and tapping his foot.

"Don't tell me you're too full to practice now," he said with a hint of annoyance.

"OK, we won't... we'll say we're too full and tired to move fast enough for your satisfaction," Morake said with a yawn.

Kito grimaced and sighed. "I was afraid of that." He walked next to Morake and sat down in front of him, leaning back against his stomach. "All right, I'll let you guys recharge, and then we go back to training, OK?"

"OK," both warthog and cheetah replied tiredly, and laid their heads down to sleep. Kito furrowed his brow slightly at how lazy the two of them seemed at the moment. He shook it off quickly as he attempted to relax with them. But soon his foot began to tap again and he felt a little twitchy, ready to do something. He tried to fight the feeling in order to spend some quiet time with his friends, but he couldn't hold it in.

Morake could feel Kito's twitchiness and lifted his head up to look at him. "Ya mind?" he asked with an arched brow

"Mm, not really," the meerkat replied. Kito jumped to his feet and began to pace, trying to get some of the twitchiness out of his system. "I know you guys are tired, but I feel like getting some exercise."

"_Again?_" Bango asked with a roll of his eyes.

"_Yes,_ again. You guys sure you don't wanna do anything? We could play a round or two of Predator Tag. I feel like running or something like that."

"_I_ don't," both Bango and Morake replied.

"Ask us again after our nap," Morake yawned.

Kito grimaced as he walked over to Morake and tugged on his whiskers. The cheetah released a small growl, which the meerkat ignored. "What am I suppose to do in the meantime? You know I don't like running without a motivation."

"You could tug on another loose root, Kito," a voice said. Kito growled as he turned towards the voice, recognizing it right away. It was Shani who had just arrived and was sliding off Barika's back. "Well, think about it, Kito: work on your biceps _and_ your leg muscles at the same time," she said with a giggle. "It'd be a great workout."

"_Uh-huh..._" Her brother didn't look amused at all. "May I help you with something?" he asked patronizingly. He figured Shani had come to tease him like she usually did while he was training, but he was a little surprised when she suddenly began to wring her paws and look a little apprehensive.

"Yeah, actually. Um, can you spare a few minutes to talk alone with me?"

"Sure, Shani..." Barika sat to the side next to her brother Bango and friend Morake as the two meerkats walked away from them for some privacy. It wasn't long before they had come to a stop. Kito grinned as he walked over to a bush with a root sticking out of the ground. It was similar to what he was tugging earlier and he knew it would be perfect. "All right... I'm listening." He picked it up and started to tug on it, straining a bit.

Shani furrowed her brow as she stepped up beside him and put a paw on her hip. "Are you sure?"

"Go ahead and start talking. I can do two things at once."

Shani wasn't so sure, but decided to humor him as he did his little work out. She began to wring her paws again as she tried to find the right words. "OK, OK. Umm... Kito, you know about those--?" She paused when she heard a small crumble nearby, and took a quick look around the area. _Oh, no, not_ here! _Not _this_ spot! I dug here yesterday!_

"I know about those _what?_" Kito asked, seeming like he didn't notice. Shani was about to say something in a rush, but then the ground suddenly gave away and Kito yelped as he dropped. Shani winced and looked down at him, watching him dangle at the end of the root that he was still hanging onto. "Lemme guess..." he said in a calm voice, but his face told otherwise. "I know about these mystery tunnels, right?"

"_Uh-huh..._" Shani nodded hesitantly. She took a few steps back as Kito climbed out of hole with the root onto solid ground.

He dusted himself off for a moment and coughed once. "I _knew_ it... one of the meerkats that go unchecked for dirty claws and fur is the mystery digger. I'm surprised no one's caught on yet."

"I'm relieved, but at the same time kinda offended," Shani said with a furrowed brow and a wrinkled nose. "How did _you_ know?"

"Like I said, we went unchecked, so it had to be either you or me, and I knew it wasn't me." Kito dusted himself off again, and then walked over to a nearby tree. "Want a snack?"

She shook her head. "No, thank you." Shani exhaled as she watched her brother peel off a piece of bark and gathered the insects gathered underneath. "So if you've known why didn't you tell anyone?"

Kito popped a beetle into his mouth and chewed before he replied, "Two reasons..." He swallowed. "One: you've kept quiet for me one numerous occasions, like my training. I'm just returning a long overdue favor." Shani smiled slightly, touched. "And two: if they find out that you, my sister, is the mystery digger, they'll suspect me of doing it, too. You know that saying that the younger copies the older, and they'll think you got it from me. I'll deny it, of course, but will they believe me? Doubtful." He popped another insect into his mouth. "I've got enough on my plate already." He swallowed the bug and looked over his shoulder at Shani. "Why _are_ you digging anyway? It's a little weird."

Shani nervously smiled as she wrung her paws again. "That's kinda why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to ask you something..." Kito arched a brow as she looked at him. "Have you been having these weird urges to do things meerkats normally don't do here?"

Kito blinked once as he looked at his sister, a bit surprised by her question. "Urges..." He thought carefully as he set the bugs he had gathered back onto the tree. "Well, recently, I guess I _have_ had these urges to work out... which I normally get with Bango and Morake. Not just regular exercise, either; I get a little aggressive and twitchy, and I normally get my fill when I train with guys."

"So no digging, watching space, grooming, or scurry-sniff-flinch urges?"

"... Shani, you need to see a doctor." Shani furrowed her brow and snorted. "Digging's weird enough as it is, but all that other stuff?"

"You mean you _didn't_ feel the need to do any of that?"

"I'd be lying if I said no!" Kito blurted, and then covered his mouth a little too late. Shani gasped, surprised. He waited a moment before he removed his paw and exhaled. "I admit, I felt those urges once or twice before, but I just withheld them by doing something else."

Shani sighed as she put a paw on her hip. "I tried doing that, but they wouldn't stop." She turned her eyes back to Kito. "So why didn't you tell me you had the urges, too?"

"Heh! And let you think I was a freak?" Kito asked.

His sister smirked and folded her arms in front of her chest. "You're my brother; you've _always_ been a freak to me." Kito furrowed his brow slightly. "Even more-so lately. I mean, you're five seasons old and you're _still_ acting out old fairy tales. Grow up, would ya?"

"What fairy tales?"

"The battles with Mataka and Bintaka. I consider those fairy tales because I don't believe they actually happened. Dad told us those stories when we were pups to make him look like a hero in our eyes, that's all."

Kito's jaw dropped, shocked and appalled to hear his own sister say that about their father. He recovered and pushed his jaw back into place. "_Fairy tales!_ Shani, there have been _witnesses_ to those battles, myself included!"

"And the more exciting parts were only witnessed by Dad. Remember, you were either too busy providing a distraction or hiding under some rocks from those two hyenas, and while Dad was distracting them you got away outside. I believe some of the stuff he did if it came from another's mouth, but when it's just Dad? Who knows if what he 'experienced' actually happened, or if he just made it up to make himself look good?" She sighed and shook her head. "I loved every bit of those stories when I was a pup, but we're adults now. We need to look at it realistically."

"Is this another of those urges you've been getting?" Kito asked with a deeply furrowed brow. "You know, your 'bad-mouth Dad' urge?"

Shani sighed and turned away from Kito. "I dunno... I do feel like I shouldn't believe those stories anymore. Dad just doesn't strike me as the hero type like he used to when we were kids. He tells us so much, but not how our colonies used to live outside the oasis or why he left the colony in the first place."

"Tch. You're just saying that because you've never seen him firsthand in an actual fight. If you did you'd see just how great he is."

Shani already resented Kito for seeing things she never did, and she felt her level headedness slip away for a moment. She suddenly spun around to face him and snapped, "Kito, maybe to _you_ he's worthy of the titles 'son of Fearless Buzz' and 'Great Timon,' but to _me,_ he's--!" She stopped herself from finishing her sentence, and bit her lip.

Kito had his brow furrowed and took a step towards her. "Go ahead. _Say it._ What is he to you?"

Her expression weakened as she looked at Kito's face. The intensity of her voice wasn't as strong as it was a moment ago, but her words still struck a short of blow to him. "To me... he's just Dad."

Kito gasped, stunned. He regained himself and tried to redirect his sister's thoughts of Timon. "Shani... he's more than--"

Shani turned away, unable to look at Kito in the eye anymore. "Don't misunderstand. I love him, but he's just not my hero anymore. He's not like Buzz." Not wanting to hear another protest from Kito she began to walk away, leaving him alone, still stunned at her words.

_To be continued..._


	8. Mourners

Like I did in _Out of the Blue_ I'm gonna go ahead and do a chapter of where we'll be going to later on. We'll get a better feel of the characters and the surroundings this way. It may be shorter than I'd like, but oh well. It's a bit of a sad chapter. Enjoy! 

Chapter 8:

Hours away from the oasis, in the Pride Lands, a lone meerkat stood at the top of a lone tree, staring out towards the setting sun. The bangs of his dark brown hair hid his eyes and lay just above his nose. A light chilling breeze blew past him, which he inhaled deeply, and released a sigh.

"Finally... I thought the day would never end," he said to himself. Still looking out towards the setting sun he felt around as he carefully climbed down the branches of the tree. He missed a step once and let out a light yelp as he tightened his grip on the branch he was holding onto, letting his legs dangle. He felt he pushed a piece of bark from the branch off, and then heard a surprised gasp from below.

"_Nuru!_ You almost hit me!" a female's voice called from below. It was a female meerkat with dark brown fur and grayish-brown hair. She looked up at the meerkat she called Nuru and gasped again. "Are you all right?"

Nuru looked down at the meerkat with a grimace. "Oh, I'm peachy... just tell me if my foot's over the next branch, would ya?" He waved his foot from side to side a bit, slipping down further to the next step.

"Down a little more... _little more..._" She watched and sighed in relief as he put his foot onto the branch and climbed back onto the ground. She walked over to him and tapped her foot as she watched him pick up a stick that was an inch or two taller than Nuru was. "I worry about you, you know?"

"I'm _fine,_ Naysun," Nuru replied as he leaned part of his weight into his walking stick. "I probably slipped on a piece of moss or something... couldn't tell, I was watching the sun."

The female called Naysun grinned slightly as he flicked a piece of Nuru's bang back into place. "Eager for quitting time, as usual. And don't blame the moss for your bad haircut interfering with your vision." Nuru nervously grinned as he dusted himself off. "So, are you going to come with me this time?"

Nuru paused as he was dusting himself off, and then grimaced. He had arched a brow but because of his bangs Naysun was unable to see that. "Didn't you already go earlier this week?"

"_No,_ I didn't. And even if I did, so what?" Naysun's face softened as she took hold of Nuru's paw. "She's our sister... don't you want to see her?"

Bowing his head slightly Nuru replied, "All right, I'll go this time." He turned towards her and grinned, "I hate it when you use that 'don't you wanna see our sister' rap on me." Naysun giggled as she walked ahead. Nuru shook his head as he followed her with a limp in his right foot, moving along with his walking stick.

Soon they came to a small bush, where a meerkat-sized rock laid underneath it. Naysun had picked some flowers on the way over, and then laid them on top. Nuru stood behind her, looking at the stone. "Things were better... before the massacre," Nuru heard Naysun mumble.

"A lot of things were better before the massacre," Nuru returned. "We had the Outlands, more termites than we knew what to do with, and the _Nunda._ I was surprised we lasted as long as we did by using the _Nunda_ to ward off predators, but then..." He looked away from the stone and to the ground. "Mangy hyenas..."

"The colony was shortened to just sixteen... and then Father and Sengbe died..." Naysun's paws clenched tightly as she added, "... And then Sly _abandoned_ us, and we became thirteen. Maybe if he stayed..."

Nuru furrowed his brow a bit and swallowed hard, as if the next thing he was about to say was going to be very difficult. Without meaning to he snapped at her, "_If Sly stayed, he would've been killed along **with** her!_" He motioned to the stone when he said that, and then winced, rubbing his stomach. Naysun jumped when he snapped, and then released a sob. Nuru's expression softened, and then he sighed softly. "I know you hate to cry in front of others, but... please don't hold back."

Naysun did dislike it, and she tried to hold herself from an outburst as she continued to look at the stone. "Yasmin... you spoiled..." She put a paw to her lips and tried to choke back her tears. "Choosing a rogue to be your mate... the rogue that _I_ wanted... Why did you... why did you hurt yourself like that... hoping that he would love you in return, when he... when he never did? You fool..." She closed her eyes and felt tears stream down her face. "He left us... he left _you_ alone to take care of the colony. It was fine for a while, but then... _but then..._" She gasped loudly when she felt paws on her shoulder and turned to see.

Nuru had taken hold of her, his head bowed down. "Don't say it... please. She's my sister, too, and hearing her name in that sentence..." He tightened his grip on her, making her wince slightly. He continued in a pained whisper, "... It twists my insides. So _please..._ don't say it." He jumped slightly when Naysun suddenly turned around and clung to him, getting his chest wet with her tears. Nuru didn't object as he dropped his walking stick and wrapped his arms around her. "Naysun, when are you going to stop this? Stop punishing yourself like this."

"She was my _sister,_ Nuru... I didn't want her to die... not like _that..._" She tightened her grip on a piece of Nuru's fur. "Mother, Father, Sly... _Yasmin..._ I loved _all_ of them." She swallowed and cried, "_**Why did they leave me, Nuru!**_"

Nuru moved a paw to the back of Naysun's head and started to stroke her hair. "They were _taken,_ Naysun... they didn't _leave_ you." He rested his chin on the top of her head as he continued. "They loved you, too; they would never leave you on purpose. Sly... he's a fool to go away. But _I'm_ still here, and I won't leave you again." He kissed the top of her head and held onto her a bit tighter. "I promise..."

Neither of them knew how long they stayed like that, but by that time the sun had set and the stars began to come out. Naysun had finished crying, but she was a little embarrassed at how she behaved, clinging to her elder brother and crying like a pup. She wiped her cheeks and noticed wet dirt smeared on her paw. "Worked harder than I thought... I'm covered in dirt."

"Good sign to show you weren't slacking off, right?" Nuru lightly chuckled as he bent over and picked up his walking stick. He stuck his nose up in the air and sniffed a few times. "We'd better hurry back... it's almost the time the nocturnal predators wake up hungry."

Naysun looked around briefly and nodded. "You're right." She took hold of Nuru's paw and pulled him along. "Let's hurry back." She looked at the stone one last time before they departed from the area. "Good night, Yasmin." Nuru allowed his sister to pull him along, but he took a quick look back towards the stone, where a meerkat called Yasmin laid buried.

_To be continued..._


	9. Against Instinct

This one's a shorter chapter, but next one'll be longer, promise. And sorries I haven't been working much. Was busy with my art RPG challenge for the month. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! 

Chapter 9:

"_Ah..._ I don't know how much longer I can put up with this..."

"Mm, _what,_ you don't like my company anymore?" Zuri laid next to Timon in a leaf hammock, and both were looking up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set and the stars were beginning to come out. The two had been laying like this ever since Zuri was told about the meerkat called Kano, and she wanted to be with Timon. Of course Timon made no attempt to push her away.

Timon pretended to think about his mate's question, and then he snorted, "_No,_ I don't..." Zuri, thinking he was serious, furrowed her brow slightly. Timon turned his eyes to her and grinned, "I _love_ your company." Zuri relaxed and chuckled as she brushed her head under Timon's chin. "I meant I can't put up with these tunnels much longer. I moved us here to get away from tunnels and predators. What's next, we get a jackal ringing our doorbell?"

Zuri arched a brow. _Could he have forgotten so easily?_ "The oasis has had predators before. Remember Simba?"

Timon made a small gulp, and then he shook his head. "Simba's different. He eat bugs, just like the rest of--"

"Lions aren't _born_ to eat insects. You turned him against instinct to keep yourself and Pumbaa safe and to have a bodyguard." She turned to her side to look at him better. "And maybe that was a good thing, because Nala found the oasis and she would have eaten you if Simba wasn't there." Timon gulped again, remembering that unpleasant day. Pumbaa wondered away from Timon to catch a beetle, and Nala had found her way there, and she was starving. She had both of them cornered and if Simba was even a _little_ bit late... Timon still had a mild fear of Nala and didn't trust her completely.

"OK, OK, so that's _one_ predator that's found the oasis, but she was the only one since."

Zuri sighed, annoyed. "Timon, you're not counting Simba." Timon lowered his eyes slightly as he sat up and ruffled his red hair. Zuri softly exhaled as she sat up. "I know you loved him and you still do, but no matter how you look at it, Simba is, was, and always will be a predator. I'm not saying he'll eat you one day; I'm very sure he won't... I'm saying it's hard to go against instinct, and it wasn't exactly easy for him to change his ways."

"You can say that again," Timon gulped, remembering the first month or two raising Simba. Simba's ways of playing scared the meerkat out of his skin several times a day.

"But he still tried hard to adapt. He forced himself because he was alone until he found you and Pumbaa and he didn't want to eat his new caretakers, his new best friends." She leaned closer to him and put a paw on his cheek, turning his face to hers. "Although it was easier for him to adapt, it's the same for Morake." Timon's eyes widened slightly and his eyebrows jumped. "He forced himself because his mother died, and he couldn't hunt. He tried fruits and grass, but it wouldn't stay down. He was already starving by the time he met Kito and Bango, who taught him how to hunt for insects."

"But they still went against instinct, and they're doing great, just like we're doing now. Normal meerkats don't live like this." Timon spread his arms out to gesture the oasis. "We've been living like this for, what, three, four years? And we're still going strong, baby!" Zuri softly exhaled as she leaned back a bit, looking a bit tired. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. I'm a little tired, though." She then smiled. "But I'm happy."

Timon's expression softened as he looked at her stomach, which was swelled slightly. "So am I, and I just want us to stay safe, and the oasis is as safe as a bug in a rug. You can't blame a guy for being protective of his family, right?"

"No, I can't blame you, Timon..." Zuri smiled softly as she sat up a bit more and leaned against him. "... But I do seem to recall something a certain meerkat once said to my father."

"What? Who?"

"He said..." She turned her eyes to him and grinned, "'There is such a thing as a father being overprotective of his children.'" Timon blinked and cleared his throat when he realized he was the one who said that. That was different then... it was before he and Zuri were even in love. "You can be a little overprotective of your children, and I've noticed lately that you assume you know them completely..."

Timon blinked once, looking confused. "Why _wouldn't_ I know them completely? They're my pups."

"In this talk about instinct it made me think. You rule it out because you don't want to believe it, but... what if the meerkat or meerkats that are digging those tunnels... are _ours?_"

Hearing such a suggestion from his own mate regarding their pups struck a nerve in Timon, but he recovered quickly. "Kito and Shani are _not_ diggers, Zuri," he replied defensively.

"Like I said, assuming. You don't know that for sure. They're the only ones that haven't been checking for dirty fur and claws. You think just because they were born in the oasis it means they would catch the Hakuna Matata instinct right off the bat, ignoring the meerkat's natural instinct altogether. Check them once, that's all I ask."

Timon sighed, annoyed. He knew his pups would know better than to do something like that. "I think it's a waste of time, but fine, I will." He laid back down in the hammock, deciding to try to relax. But the thought kept nagging at him in the back of his mind, making it impossible for him to relax. "... Y'know what? Why wait? I'll do it right now." He carefully slid out of the hammock so is not to disrupt Zuri. He dusted himself off and looked up at her as she leaned over to the edge to look at him. "Will you be alright by yourself? Need anything, put your feet up, bring ya a hot water bottle, pickles, lice cream?"

Zuri giggled softly. Timon was so adorable when he was like this. "I'm pregnant, not helpless. Now shoo." Timon grinned as he took a look back at her one more time and took off, determined to prove to her that their son and daughter didn't have the meerkat instinct.

_To be continued..._


	10. New Moon

Was almost done with this chapter by the time I finished up Chapter 9, so that explains the quick update. Now then, at this point I'm not sure if Dajan (a meerkat we'll meet in a minute) will become a regular or not, but I needed someone like him in this chapter. Whether we see him again is yet to be seen. Anyway, this is a slightly intense chapter, especially near the end. Hope you like. 

Chapter 10:

Shani had a clear view of the setting sun as she finished dusting herself off and covered her latest tunnel with sticks, dirt, and leaves. "This time, _stay_ hidden." She licked a paw and smoothed it over her hair, and began grooming herself. As she groomed she looked upward, seeing the stars had begun to come out. As she looked she noticed... "Huh... new moon tonight." She inhaled, and then paused when she caught scent of something. She sniffed a few times before she turned her head towards the approaching footsteps. "Just passing by, Dajan?"

A meerkat male, a few weeks older than Shani, stopped in front of her and looked her over a bit, as if inspecting her. He was tall for his age with dark hair and blue eyes, and the grin he gave Shani made her shudder for some reason. "Nope," he replied as he knelt down to the gathered flowers laying next to Shani's feet and inhaled. "I just came by to say, tonight's your lucky night, Shani."

"It is?" She grimaced as the male named Dajan leaned closer to her, producing the flower. "How is it lucky?"

Dajan clicked his tongue, a tad disappointed in Shani's slowness to catch on. "We're both well over a year old... do I need to spell it out for you?"

Shani frowned and furrowed her brow slightly. Dajan wasn't exactly the most lovable meerkat within the first years. He was arrogant and self-centered and expected to get his way... and this time, it seems, he wanted her as a mate. She turned her face away from his with her eyes close. "_How_ can you spell it out if you can't even spell? Try this: N-O." She reopened her eyes and gasped when he tightly grabbed her by the wrist.

"How can you spell 'no' to something you've never even _had?_ C'mon, Shani... you _know_ you want me."

"I _know_ I want you to let go. That hurts!" She grunted and tried to pry his paw him her wrist, but he held firm. "I mean it, Dajan! Lemme go right now!" Suddenly a paw came down and striked the wrist of the paw that held Shani's, and released his grip on her. Shani took a few steps back, rubbing her wrist as she looked to her rescuer.

Kito was just walking by when he heard Shani yelling, and decided to put a stop to it. He stepped in front of his sister, keeping her away from the unlikely suitor. "I know you're not exactly the quickest the catch on, Dajan, but my sister told you no, and even though that's not your favorite word, you're _going_ to obey it, _or else,_" Kito softly growled. Dajan stood scowling, but he was silent for that moment. Kito slowly turned away from him and put a paw on his sister's back. "C'mon, let's get out of here." Shani nodded, grateful that Kito had been there for her, and walked beside him.

Dajan watched the two walking away from him, and scoffed. "Is _that_ all? A slap on the wrist and a verbal warning?_ Oooo,_ you're _scary,_ Kito!" he called out to Kito in a taunting manner.

Kito furrowed his brow and softly growled. He never took taunting very well, and he was doing his best not to stop and turn around. What was worse, he was still feeling aggressive and twitchy, and this would be a great opportunity to let it out. Shani looked at her brother, worried. "Don't pay attention to him... just walk away..." Kito mumbled to himself. "Beat up a tree instead..."

"Not that you'd stand a chance against me anyway..." Dajan continued taunting. Kito's brow furrowed deeper as he put his paw against a tree to steady himself as he walked over a root. Shani walked around it. "... You know, with your pathetic attempts to prove you're the next Great one. Really, I think you're more suited for the title of the next _Braindead_ one, right up there with your Pop and Grandpa."

Kito stopped. His pupils contracted just before he set his foot down on the opposite side of the root and dug his claws into the tree he was using to balance his weight. Dajan noticed a lack of movement from Kito and grinned, seeing he struck a nerve. Shani softly gasped as she watched her brother's face darken and the claws raked the bark of the tree, leaving claw marks behind as he slowly turned back around to face Dajan. "Kito... _don't..._" Shani whispered in a stern voice.

"Oh, _no..._ he's _asking_ for it..." Kito growled as he walked towards Dajan. "... _I'm_ asking for it..." Dajan stood there with his arms folded over his chest as Kito approached him, waiting for him. The sight of him boiled Kito's blood even more, turning his walk into a run. "...And _one of us_ is gonna _**get it!**_" He leapt at Dajan and tackled him to the ground.

Shani gasped and ran closer to them as they fought, growling and exchanging blows. She jumped back when Kito was thrown backwards and Dajan pounced at him, only to have Kito roll to the side and leap on his back. "Knock it off, both of you!"

"I _wanna_ knock it off... right into the knothole of that tree over there!" Kito hissed as he slugged Dajan right in the chin.

"That's not what I meant..." Shani winced. She didn't want to get in the middle of that, but she didn't know what to do. Instead she watched where they were going and tensed. _Please don't fall in the hole, please don't fall in the hole... _It increased when she heard voices approaching.

"What's going on over here?" the first voice asked in a demanding tone.

"Both of you,_ stop it!_" the second voice followed. Timon and Sly, who Timon had met along the way to finding Kito and Shani, ran towards the combating meerkats.

"Not _now,_ Dad, I'm in the middle of something!" Kito grunted and got punched by Dajan again. He growled and jumped on him again slamming him into the ground... which broke under the pressure and they both fell into the hole Shani had just covered. Shani slapped a paw over her face, groaning. Timon and Sly gasped and ran over to the exposed hole, looking down. "I'm OK... Dajan broke my fall," Kito called up to them.

"We're glad to hear it, but I'm not sure how his parents will take the news," Timon grimaced. "Here, gimme your paw..." He reached down deep and grabbed Kito's paw, pulling him to the surface. Kito was bruised and wincing when he made it back to solid ground. "For once, I'm glad there was a hole there." Shani grimaced slightly when her father wasn't looking her way.

"And I was winning, too..." Kito mumbled, and then winced again.

Sly bent down and helped Dajan back to the surface, who instantly made a lunge for Kito. Sly still had a hold of him, so he held him back. Kito saw this and went to tackle him again with a growl, but Timon took hold of him. "Hey-hey-hey, cut it out!" Sly grunted as he held tight. "I didn't hear any bells!"

"Round 2! C'mon! Lemme at 'im, Dad!" Kito growled as he struggled against Timon's grip. "Let him loose, Uncle Sly! I'll KO him in a minute-two!"

"Not unless I throw in the towel for you, pup!" Timon grunted as he held Kito back. "Just _what_ were you fighting about?"

"He badmouthed you, me, and Grandpa Buzz and he tried to put the moves on Shani when she didn't want anything to do with him," Kito said, then struggled a little bit more. "And for some reason I've been wanting to tackle something that moves on its own all day! It's irritating!"

"So's your Uncle Sly's re-enactment performance record, but I still put up with it." Sly furrowed his brow at his brother, wishing he would forget about it already. "Feeling aggressive is no reason to try to rip his throat out. Even when we had the competition we nev--" Timon paused a moment, then looked up at the darkened sky and stars. The moon was shadowed.

"What is it, Timon?" Sly asked.

Timon glanced around the area briefly. The sun was almost set. Shani looked well-groomed. Kito felt the need to fight. Dajan tried to romance Shani. The two males fought each other. And there was a small bunch of flowers that were picked on the ground. "I guess it is the right time..."

"Would you mind filling in the blanks?" Sly asked with a wrinkled brow.

"It's the first new moon of the summer... before I found the oasis, that was when we had the competition for mating rights, the first new moon of the season."

"You actually fought to _mate?_ That barbaric!" Shani said, disgusted.

"That's how we handled things a long time ago before we came to the oasis, Shani. But most colonies stopped having the competition because of the aggression it caused between the losers. The way I hear it that's how your Grandpa Shomari left my side of the colony," Timon explained.

Shani blinked a few times as she took the new information all in. New... that's _exactly_ what it was, because it was just today she learned that this colony used to dig, that they didn't always live like they were now. What she thought was alien was actually normal among normal meerkats. She furrowed her brow slightly. "First digging, now mating rights? What _else_ have you been keeping from us, _Dad?_"

Timon looked at Shani, a bit surprised at her tone and expression. He released Kito, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, and walked over to her. "Nothing that would interest you, Shani, trust me. It _barely_ interested me when we did it."

"Maybe I _wanna_ learn. Maybe I _like_ digging. Did you ever think about _that?_" Timon looked taken aback by her words. More than that, she actually _admitted_ that she was the digger.

Sly looked between the father and daughter, and then cleared his throat. "Uh... I think we'll leave you two alone to talk," he broke the silence for a moment as he grasped onto Kito's shoulder. "See you later, Timmy." Keeping a good grip on him and Dajan he lead the two of them away from the area, leaving Timon and Shani alone. Timon grimaced as he watched them leave, having no one to back him up now. Shani hardly acknowleged their departure as she grabbed Timon's attention again.

"I used to think I was sick, that I was becoming some kind of freak, and I find out it's a part of what we used to do?" She took a step towards Timon, who took a step away from her. "I was afraid to come forward because I saw how you reacted to the tunnels, so I thought I was doing something bad, but that's because you didn't tell me _anything_ about how we used to live!"

Timon furrowed his brow as he responded. "That's because the meerkat life outside the oasis is dangerous. You have no idea what's out there, and I don't _want_ you to know. Trust me, it's not the place for you."

"I'm an adult now! Aren't I entitled to making my own decisions?"

"Of course you are... as long as it's related to whatever I say." Shani growled and stomped her foot, pouting her lips out a bit. That pout caught Timon off-guard a bit, and he tried to hold firm. "_Hey,_ no pouting, I hate pouting! And while you're at it, whatever outside-meerkat instinct you've picked up lately I want it thrown outside right now! This oasis is ruled by Hakuna Matata, _not_ Digga Tunnah. It doesn't _belong_ here."

Shani shook her head in disbelief as she took a step away from her father. "That's not fair... you _never_ take me out beyond Pride Rock because you say it's dangerous." Her expression hardened as she continued. "You say a lot of things and I stopped _believing_ them a long time ago! So you say the Pride Lands are dangerous, so that must mean they're as safe as a bug in a rug! I can't say 'no' to something I've never even had!"

"_Shani--_" Timon began in a warning tone.

Shani only covered her ears to block him out. "_No!_ Stop lying to me! And while you're at it, stop telling those _stupid_ stories! You're not fooling anyone to believe them anymore! ... No one except Kito." Timon gasped. She didn't believe the stories anymore? Shani looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't say anything... _**I don't wanna be lied to anymore!**_" She turned and ran away from him. He was too stunned to follow after her and just stood there. He only stared after her, feeling numb at his daughter's words...

_"Stop telling those _stupid_ stories! You're not fooling anyone to believe them anymore! _**I don't wanna be lied to anymore!**_"_

"They're _not_ stupid stories... they _happened..._" Timon felt some feeling return, and he closed his eyes and bowed his head. He then dropped to his knees and put a paw over his eyes. "I didn't lie to you... but I never told you the truth either..."

_To be continued..._


	11. I Have Decided

Back again with another chapter, and we've finally got the plot mentioned! Not sure how I'll put the next chapter in place, but hopefully it'll be up before New Years. It's a shorter chapter, but important decisions will be made. Be sure you check this chapter on my DA account, which you can get to on my main FF.N page. Slightly different. Check ya later!

Chapter 11:

"_Shani_ said all _that?_"

"She said all _that_ and all _this_ and all a lot of other stuff I don't wanna recall." Timon had returned to his nest, where Zuri was getting ready to go to bed. He had just retold what had happened from when Kito and Dajan were in their bout until Shani had run away from him. "Why did you have to be right, Zuri?"

Zuri was sitting behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder. She grinned softly, "Because I'm always right?" She giggled softly at Timon's sour expression. "It's just common sense. We're _all_ born with the instinct."

Timon turned his eyes at her and grimaced. "Yeah, but I was hoping she was born with the over-powering Hakuna Matata instinct, too."

"The only thing over-powering around here is Pumbaa in a larger animal crowd. Hakuna Matata is just our philosophy, not an instinct."

"That depends on who you ask, and _your_ daughter is not one you should ask." At that time he was expecting another round of "that's _your_ pup" to fall into play, but the reply he received was unexpected.

"No, she wouldn't be a good person to ask, you're right."

Timon blinked a few times and looked at her. "You're not gonna say she's _my_ daughter?"

Yawning, Zuri leaned back and laid down next to Timon, continuing to look at him. "I would, normally, but not this time. Shani takes after you in some matters, but she also takes after me. I guess most of what she takes after me is the old tunnel instinct. Remember, I dug for my entire life until two years ago when I met you... which is longer than you. So she _is_ my daughter." She suddenly smiled, "Otherwise, I might have accused her of being _your_ daughter."

Timon grinned at the familiar reply, and then he sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, she takes after you quite a bit... she also seems to take after you in the same way before we got together."

"How's that?" Zuri yawned again.

"She doesn't believe all the unbelievable things I did." He ruffled his hair with a groan. "_Ahh,_ I shouldn't have blown up at her... but she just sprung that she was digger on me so suddenly, I couldn't think straight. I even forgot about Kito's fight." He laid down next to Zuri and shook his head. "Would _you_ have reacted any differently?"

She was silent for a moment, and then Zuri took hold of her mate's paw and rubbed it against her cheek. "I understand instinct, and it's hard to go against, especially when we're not in a meerkat's natural environment. You remember it took my colony a few weeks to adjust." Timon thought for a moment, and reluctantly nodded. Zuri softly smiled as she brought his paw to her lips and kissed it. She released it as she softly exhaled, closed her eyes, and got comfortable. "We've given our pups everything we never had growing up... but I think we should give them the choice if they want to try something we _did_ have." And soon, she was asleep. She fell asleep much quicker when she was pregnant.

Timon wished he could say the same. He flipped onto his back and looked up at the stars through the leaves the trees, thinking. _It's hard to believe she's over a year old now. It seemed like just yesterday I was teaching her how to ride a warthog for the first time..._

_"Daddy, can you teach me how to ride?... Walk beside me, OK, Daddy? I don't wanna fall off... That's a funny face, Daddy!... I know girls are always right. Mom says so and she's the boss... Really? I can't wait 'til _I_ get married!... Dad, you... you used to dig?..._ I** don't wanna be lied to anymore!**_"_

He hated hearing those last few words ringing in his ear. He exhaled and closed his eyes. He had decided...

_Elsewhere..._

Penda was on her way towards her nest after cleaning up the mess the pups made in the re-enactment area when she heard an usual sound. Well, it was unusual because of who was making it, a meerkat who rarely made that sound. She went towards it, peeking around a tree. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw who it was. Sitting at the base of the tree was Shani, with her knees up to her chest, her arms folded on top, her forehead rested on top, and her shoulders shaking. Penda tilted her head slightly as she walked around to the front of her. "Shani...?" she asked softly.

Shani snapped to her senses when she heard another voice. She quickly lowered her legs and wiped her face. "A-Aunt Penda!" She cleared her throat and sniffled, trying to regain what little dignity she had left. "W-What are you doing here?" Penda knelt down in front of her, removing a tear from her niece's fur, showing it to her. "That? I-I just had something in my eye..."

"You don't have to lie to me, sweetheart," Penda said gently as she cupped Shani's face in her paws, drying what remained of the tears. "Tell me what's wrong."

Surrendering to the kindness that was her aunt, Shani sighed. "My dad and I had a disagreement earlier. He still treats me like I'm three-months-old sometimes, and he said I can only make my choices if he already agreed to them. I thought being an adult would be different than being a pup, but... not with _him._"

"You're Timon's oldest daughter... of course he's going to be protective of you because he loves you. But you're right; you're an adult and you should make your own decisions." Penda took hold of Shani's paws and smiled. "Sweetheart, it's _your_ life; _you're_ the one in control of it, not Timon. It's time you should take charge of it and do what _you_ want without regret."

Shani lowered her eyes slightly, considering. She suddenly smiled and hugged her aunt. "Thank you, Aunt Penda. I needed to hear that."

Penda returned the hug. "You're welcome, Shani. Are you going to be OK?"

"Mmm-hmm. I just need to be alone to think a while." Penda nodded and stood, giving Shani a wink as she continued on her way to her nest. Shani deeply sighed as she wiped her eyes again. "If only I can make Dad understand I'm _not_ a pup anymore..." She stood and stretched, walking in the opposite direction of Penda. Soon she came to the re-enactment area, where various props still laid. She walked over to one of the puppets and looked it over. It was shaped like a muscular meerkat.

_"... So we got the hyenas' attention by dropping leaves in an erupting geyser, burning the leaves and making it look like it was raining fire. Then, using shadows, I use a shell to make my voice louder and pretended to be your Grandpa Buzz to scare the hyenas out of the cave. You should've seen how scared they were! I think one wet their fur! _Ha!_"_

"I don't believe those stupid stories anymore..." Grimacing, Shani tossed the puppet aside and looked up at the sky, as if looking for guidance. "What am I suppose to do, Grandpa? If I stay here I'm just going to feel worse when word spreads that I'm the digger. But if I left--" She suddenly thought of something, and her eyes widened with excitement. "If I left and went to the Pride Lands... if I can find another meerkat colony, I can learn how to be a _real_ meerkat! And I won't be treated like some outcast! It's _gotta_ be better out there than it is here, right?" She smacked her fist into her paw, determined. "Right!" She had decided...

_To be continued..._


	12. I Hate Rogues

Dang, I had forgotten I used that name before... ah, well. Sudi's mate Penda is NOT the same Penda that had turned Timon down in _Remember When?_ I forgot I used that name before, but then again, you're not suppose to pay much attention to minor one-time-only characters. Hope that clears things up. 

Chapter 12:

While Shani was preparing herself to go on her journey to the Pride Lands, the Pride Lands themselves were unaware of its newest visitor to come. Nor were the residents, especially not Nuru and Naysun, who were already settling in for the evening. Since her sister Yasmin was killed Naysun had trouble sleeping through the night. Since then, her brother Nuru slept in her nest to give her comfort and relief, giving her enough peace to sleep. Nuru shifted around in the nest to get comfortable, and then he set his walking staff to the side. Naysun was curled up next to him, already asleep. Nuru turned his face towards his sister, listening to her deep breathing, then exhaled and looked upwards at the ceiling.

_It's so much easier for her to cry anymore... I probably would be, too, but I want to be brave for her. If Sly hadn't left, she might not be so clingy to me. I can't push her away... she needs someone like me right now._ He exhaled through his nose as he turned on his side and closed his eyes. _I hardly remember the last time I heard her laugh..._

Soon Nuru was asleep and dreaming. In his dream he stood atop of a large tree, looking out towards the sun. He was younger and his hair was much shorter, not yet covering his deep blue eyes. Tired, he sat down on the branch he was standing on and yawned. "This is _boring..._ wish the sun would go down quicker..." He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "But then it's that much sooner I'll have to listen to Yasmin gripe about Father's choice in men." He yawned again and stretched, but then he noticed some movement coming towards them. He squinted for a moment as he could make it out. "... _Snap_." He climbed down the tree as quickly as he could, grabbing a walking stick that was leaning against the tree, rushed over to the closest tunnel entrance, and whacked his staff along the opening. "_Rogues!_ We've got two rogues coming! Everyone topside!"

"Tell them to come back later! Father and I are in the middle of something!" a female's voice yelled back.

"_Yasmin!_" Nuru growled, annoyed. He clicked his tongue, and then paused, sniffing the air. His ears also heard approaching footsteps coming from behind. He tightened the grip he had on his staff, and then as he spun around he swung it. Behind him were two meerkats, one much older than the other, the other being a younger Sly. They missed the swinging staff by a mere inch. "Hold still!" He swung the staff again, only to have it caught by the older meerkat. Nuru growled as he tried to pull it back, but to no avail.

The older meerkat who had grabbed the end of the staff growled, "Is this is how you welcome _all_ your guests?"

"This is how I welcome rogues that sneak up on me," Nuru returned the growl. "And just so you know, pops…" Nuru lifted his foot up and kicked the older meerkat in the stomach, who coughed and kneeled to the ground, grasping his stomach. Nuru regain his grip on his staff and pointed it to Sly, who was still on his feet. "I don't need the staff to fight off rogues. Get it? Now _beat it!_"

"_**Nuru!**_" an even older voice barked, grabbing Nuru's attention. Nuru winced softly and turned towards the source. His father Khairi had emerged from the nearby tunnel entrance, followed by his sisters Yasmin and Naysun. "What is the meaning of this noise?"

"Like I yelled… rogues, Father," Nuru jerked his head towards the old meerkat who was being helped to his feet by Sly. "You've taught us to discourage rogues, and with your health, I was--"

"Did _they_ make the first strike?" Khairi asked in a low voice.

Nuru paused a moment. He looked back at the older meerkat and Sly and stuttered slightly. "I… well… _technically_…" Khairi's brow furrowed deeply, looking very disapproving of his son. A little embarrassed, Nuru gulped and replied, "No. But _they_ tried sneaking up on me!"

"I wouldn't call walking up to someone at normal speed while their back is turned 'sneaking,'" the older meerkat spoke up, regaining his breath.

"Quite so." Khairi gave Nuru a look before turning back to the two rogues. "Who are you and what business do you have here?"

Nuru looked to the two of them before huffing and walking over next to his sisters. He muttered a few unintelligible words as Naysun giggled softly at her brother's expression. Yasmin was looking straight ahead at the rogues… particularly the younger. "Ah, yes, forgive me." The older meerkat cleared his throat. "My name is Sengbe and this is my son Sylvester." Sly's face cringed at the sound of his full name and looked to Sengbe, annoyed. "We are recently banished from our former colony. Sylvester for failing to prove himself worthy of the leader's daughter, and I left to follow him."

Sly snorted softly and folded his arms in front of his chest. Yasmin stepped next to her father just to get a little closer to Sly without being pulled back. Nuru and Naysun looked at each other, unsure of what to make of Yasmin's bold move. "Oh, he is _handsome…_" Yasmin whispered. It was loud enough for the meerkats on her side to hear. Naysun pouted her lips and snorted softly. Khairi raised an eyebrow at her. Sengbe did not hear, but he did notice Yasmin's wondering eyes, and a small smile came to his lips.

Nuru also snorted and leaned his weight against his staff. "Oh, sure, _now_ she finds someone she's interested in… and it's a _rogue,_" he mumbled to himself. He spoke up, "Father, rogues are rogues, and I don't think it's a good idea to let them socialize with us." He sneered at Sly, who was getting too much of his sister's attention. "If they were banished from their own colony for such stupid reasons it can't be good for us if they stay here." The unusually silent Sly only growled softly at him.

"With all due respect, sir," Sengbe spoke up as he took a step closer to Khairi. "Shomari, the leader of our former colony, had his own unique ways to tell if a meerkat was worthy or not of his daughter… nearly _no one_ is worthy for his little Zuri." He grinned as his eyes shifted to Yasmin, who was still watching Sly. "But perhaps if he were to prove his worthiness to you _before_ he became a part of this colony, then perhaps he would be a good mate to one of your lovely daughters, am I right?"

Khairi turned his eyes to Yasmin, then to Sly, and then back to Sengbe. "My daughter Yasmin already seems to fancy him… and she hasn't shown that kind of attention to _any_ of the other males who were born in the colony. So to me, he is already worthy enough to join." Sly's eyes widened in surprised, and then looked to Yasmin, who winked at him. He politely smiled and waved, but it was rather forced. Nuru sneered at Sly once more, disliking the situation more and more with each passing moment.

"Excellent! Just lead us to the nest chambers and--"

"Now what about _you,_ Sengbe? What have _you_ to offer the colony?" Khairi interrupted, furrowing his brow at the slightly younger meerkat.

Sengbe smiled tightly as he leaned over to Khairi and whispered through his teeth, "I have my _son_ to offer to the colony, but I will take him back if I am not granted membership as well."

Khairi frowned and stood straight. "I'm old, sick, and tired... surely we can make some sort of deal, can't we?"

"A deal? All right... in exchange for allowing the two of us into the colony, I will give your daughter my son to wed." Sly gasped at hearing his father say those words. "And I shall also be your right-hand from here on out."

"_**Father--**_" Nuru began to protest, but was cut off.

"_**Silence!**_" Khairi growled at him. Nuru inhaled and bowed his head slightly. Khairi then looked to Yasmin. "Will this make you happy, Yasmin?"

"Yes… yes it would, Father," Yasmin smiled and hugged her father's arm.

"Then we have an agreement, Sengbe. You and Sylvester are granted a full membership."

Sengbe smiled. "Excellent." He patted Sly on the back as he began to walk forward. "You see, son? Things are looking up. And you didn't want me to follow you…" Sly furrowed his brow as he watched Sengbe speak with Khairi as they approached the entrance. "Sylvester isn't normally this silent, but he hasn't spoken a word for a few days. He's still a bit depressed from the banishment, you see… and a messenger bird revealed to us a few days ago that his mother died… but don't worry! He'll warm up to having a new home and love in no time at all!"

"He had _better…_"

Then the four younger meerkats were left on the surface. Yasmin softly giggled as she walked over to Sly and wrapped her arms around his arm. "Nice to meet you, Sylvester… I'm Yasmin. Spend some time with me and I'll help you find your words again. Lemme start by giving you the grand tour." She began to pull him along, until Nuru stepped in front of them, clearing his throat. "Aww, did you want to get introduced, too? Sylvester, this is my brother, Nuru. He's not lame or anything… the staff is for protection."

"And _not_ your own, understand?" Nuru snorted softly as he pointed the staff at Sly again. Sly blinked, looking down the staff, and grimaced. "Thought so. Just because my father was quick to welcome you doesn't mean _I _am."

"Tsk… Nuru, you're so _mean,_" Yasmin lightly scolded as she pushed the staff down with her finger. "Give him some space."

"Why don't _you_ start, Yasmin? _I _wanna meet him," Naysun chirped as she stepped up next to Nuru. She smiled and took Sly's paw. "Hi, I'm Naysun, the youngest daughter. Lemme know if you need help finding the best tuber grounds, 'kay?" Sly smiled slightly and nodded. Naysun blushed slightly, and then coughed once.

Impatient, Yasmin spoke up. "OK, we're all introduced, so I'm going to give him that tour now. Bye!" With that, Yasmin pulled Sly into the tunnel, leaving Nuru and Naysun alone.

Naysun huffed, "Why does _she_ get the cute one?"

"She's spoiled," Nuru snorted. Then he sighed, "I'm going back to work…" He tossed his staff against the tree he was in earlier and started climbing it again. Naysun snorted softly and climbed down into the tunnel.

A week had passed and Sly had yet to say a word, not even to his own father Sengbe. Most of the meerkats had gotten used to him, but were starting to wonder if he was mute. Nuru was used to him and appreciated some of the work he did, but he still did not trust having him around. He was out on sentry duty again today as the sun began to set. He yawned and started to climb down the tree he was perched in.

"Another day the sun takes its time to set…" he sighed to himself. Once he reached the ground he stretched, and once again yawned. He reached for the staff that he normally left leaning against the tree… but it wasn't there. He blinked and walked around the tree to look for the staff, but couldn't find it. He sniffed the base of the tree, and caught scent of meerkats he did not recognize. Suddenly he grunted and fell forward, feeling a harsh whack on his back. He laid there, wincing, and then he turned his head enough to look behind and above him.

Two larger, muscular meerkats that he did not recognize were standing above him, one of them holding his staff. He was padding it in the palm of his paw, looking down at him menacingly. "Tell the head meerkat we wanna speak with him," he hissed.

"And if I don't…?" Nuru grunted as he began to push himself up.

He gasped slightly when the second meerkat knelt down in front of him, smiling. "We'll give you a sneak peak of what we'll do to him," he said as he extended his claws and waved them under his nose.

"Why wait for him to say no?" the first one asked.

"Couldn't agree more."

Nuru's eyes widened, and as the meerkat with his claws extended drew his claws back he shouted, "_**Rogues!**_ Everyo--" He screamed when he felt claws rake his chest and threw him back. He panted, clenching his teeth and grasping the wound on his chest.

"Shut up if you wanna live…" the first meerkat said as he wielded the staff.

Nuru swallowed, panting. "R… Ro… _Rogues_…!" He grunted when the staff-wielding meerkat kicked him in the side, causing him to roll. Nuru coughed, almost out of breath.

"We won't tell you again… shut up," the meerkat with his claws extended growled as he approached him.

Nuru coughed once more, and then rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky. _If I die… at least let them be punished…_ He swallowed and clenched his teeth again. With his last ounce of strength he began to call, "R… R… Rog… _Rogues_…!" He saw the two of them standing over him, and he suddenly began to black out, hearing someone call his name.

"Nuru? _Nuru? **Nuru! NURU!**_"

Nuru felt himself shake, anticipating the next and probably final blow. But he couldn't open his eyes… they wouldn't open. Suddenly he heard something being yelled right in his ear. "_NURU!_"

"_WHA--?_" Nuru sprung out of the nest, wide awake. He mumbled an 'ouch' when he felt he hit his toe on a rock near the foot of the bed. "Ow, _ow!_"

Naysun was sitting up, tiredly rubbing her eyes. She looked at her brother, worried. "Are you all right? You were talking in your sleep and you woke me up. I tried shaking you, but... You were having that 'rogues getting the drop on you' dream, weren't you?"

Nuru panted as he sat at the foot of the bed, patting his chest to check for claw marks or blood, which there were none. "Yeah… this time they took my staff and beat me with it. Sorry I worried you, Naysun." He exhaled as he fell backwards into the nest, placing a paw over his eyes. "I _really_ hate rogues…"

"They're not _all_ bad… some just want a new home, like Sly did. They're not _all_ the same…" Naysun said as she laid back down and grasped onto Nuru's paw. "I just wish you could see that."

"Well, aside from Sly…" he turned on his side, removing his paw from Naysun's. "They _all_ struck first." Behind his long bangs that shielded his eyes he sneered. Knowing Nuru her whole life, she could sense it. He whispered, "That's how we lost Yasmin, remember." Naysun's eyes weakened slightly, and then sighed. She scooted closer to Nuru, both for comfort and warmth, and both tried to get back to sleep.

_To be continued…_


	13. Leaving Home

Got this done quick, didn't I? Well, I had an idea of where I wanted to go with this one, so it came out quicker than the previous. Though I did enjoy the previous. Read on. 

Chapter 13:

The moon was high overhead the same evening when Shani dusted the grubs nestled under a piece of tree bark off onto a leaf. She rolled the leaf up, tied the ends together, and slung it over her shoulder. "Well, that should tied me over until I get there..." she said to herself as she took one last look around the area. As far as she could tell there was no one around. She exhaled and started to walk away from the tree. Suddenly she heard a twig snap behind her and gasped, and then slowly turned around to face the sound.

"_Oops..._" Barika awkwardly chuckled as she lifted her hoof from the broken twig. She nodded her head to the twig and shrugged helplessly. "It snuck up on me..."

Seeing that it was Barika, Shani sighed in relief. "Rika... I'm _so_ glad it's just you..."

"Huh? I'm a _'just_ me' now?" Barika blinked a few times and softly snorted. "What's _that_ suppose to mean?"

"Nothing, it's just... aw, never mind. What are you doing up so late?"

Barika shrugged with an uneasy expression. "Well, I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk. Y'know, looking down the waterfall today scared me... just like every time before today. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get over my fear of heights, if I'll ever go to Pride Rock without having a heart attack."

"You'll beat it someday. The Pride Lands really are something," Shani smiled. _Ah, Rika... I'm gonna miss you. Once I learn how to be a real meerkat who knows if I'll ever want to come home again?_

"By the way, Shani... why are we whispering?"

Shani gulped slightly, and then softly cleared her throat. "Because I don't want to wake anyone, and for good reasons." Shani bit her lower lip before she set her makeshift bag down and walked up to the warthog. "Can you keep another secret?"

The warthog sat down, raised her right hoof in vow, and crossed her heart with her left hoof. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, shake my bottom if I got 'em."

"OK, OK, I'm convinced," Shani giggled at her little rhyme. She motioned her paw for Barika to lower her head down to her level, which she did. "Listen... my father found out about my 'urges' and he's strongly against them. He's not planning to tell me _anything_ about how normal meerkats live, so I'm going to the Pride Lands _tonight_ and find a colony to teach me."

Barika's eyes widened, and then she jumped to her feet. "_**You're leaving us!**_"

"_Shh!_ Barika, _whispering!_ Shouting is the exact _opposite_ of whispering!" Barika groaned slightly and nodded, putting a hoof to her lips. "It's not just because of the urges that I want to leave. The other younger meerkats probably don't know a _thing_ about normal meerkats, and they'll make fun of my urges and me when word gets out. I'm not gonna wait to find out... so _please,_ don't tell anyone about this either. And please, cover for me."

"I don't know if I have the strength to, Shani," the warthog shook her head. "Remember when Kito and Bango left to find Uncle Sly last year? If I knew about it I would've blurted it out sooner than you did."

Shani blinked and then stomped her foot. "Come _on!_ You kept all my _other_ secrets! What's so different about _this_ one?"

"Those were just _urges._ This is about your safety."

"_Please,_" Shani scoffed, waving the thought off. "My father's a pathological liar. If he tells me the Pride Lands are dangerous, then they're perfectly safe."

"But you've never left home alone before. ... Are you even coming _back?_"

"I honestly don't know," Shani sadly shook her head. "It all depends on how well I can make it out there."

Barika whimpered and bowed her head a bit as Shani walked back over to her makeshift bag and slung it over her shoulder. "If you leave and never come back, how am I suppose to cover for you?" Shani paused as she began to turn away with a surprised look on her face. "They're going to find out you're gone if you've been in the latrine for over six months..."

Shani thought for a moment, and then furrowed her brow and softly snorted. "Listen, Barika. I'm an adult now. If I choose to leave home in the middle of the night that's my decision. I've already decided that I'm going to become a _real_ meerkat, whether my father likes it or not. You can tell them whatever you want." She softly sighed as she turned her back to the warthog and started to walk away. But she stopped in her tracks at the next thing Barika said.

"I'm not gonna telling them anything." Shani turned around as Barika walked towards her, stopping right in front of her. "I'm not gonna telling them anything... because I'm going with you."

"W-_What?_" She shook her head a few times and cleaned out her ears, making sure she understood the words her cousin was speaking. "OK, now... say that again."

"You heard me the first time, Shani. I'm going with you to the Pride Lands."

Shani dropped her makeshift bag and decided to act like an elder to Barika for once. "Out of the question!"

"I wasn't asking. I'm _telling_ you, I'm going."

"No, you're not! You're still a teenager; you're not old enough to take care of yourself out there!"

"My father did when he was my age. Look at how well he turned out." Barika was referring to when her paternal grandparents, aunt, and uncle were killed and eaten by a band of cheetah brothers when Pumbaa was still young. He got away because he managed to outrun the cheetah chasing him and made it back to their burrow. His family never returned. "If _you_ can make decisions, so can I."

"But--" Shani grunted and bit her tongue. She couldn't think of a persuasive argument. Her decision to leave with her came as a complete shock. She was still trying to get over the fact.

Trying to make her understand, Barika laid her face down next to Shani and softly exhaled. "Besides... our fathers always said 'friends stick together 'til the end.'" Shani's brows rose slightly. "What kind of friend would I be if I knowingly let you walk out of here alone?" The meerkat lowered her eyes slightly, suddenly feeling guilty. Barika exhaled again as she leaned her face against her and whispered, "Kito and Bango had their adventure... so why can't _we_ have one?"

Shani stood there silently for a moment, and then bent over and picked up the makeshift bag. "I'm not sure if I'll come back here... what about you?"

Barika was silent for only a moment before she replied. "As long as you want me there, I'll stay in the Pride Lands. If you decide to stay, tell me and I'll come back home. But if you decide to leave, I'll give you a ride. I'm not gonna leave you alone, Shani... I promise."

"... You know, that's really, _really_ unfair." Shani turned to Barika and grinned. "Using guilt to make you come along."

Barika returned the grin. "I know, but it worked, didn't it? It's nice not being alone in a new place." She sat up and stretched. "Besides, now you won't have to walk the whole way."

"_Hmmmm..._" Shani grinned again at the thought. "All right, all right, but you'd better not slow me down. I want to find a colony first thing... well, second thing. We'll want to find someplace to sleep." She climbed onto Barika's back, setting the makeshift bag down.

"Where? I don't want to go to Pride Rock..." Barika gulped.

"Of course not... you're scared of heights and we don't need Uncle Simba to send a messenger to bring us home. We'll find someplace." Shani took a deep breath and exhaled. "Let's get going..." Barika nodded, echoing her cousin's inhaling and exhaling. And then she started walking, softly so she would not wake anyone. She watched her feet so she wouldn't step on another twig. Soon they made it to the outside of the oasis. They both took a look back before they continued on.

"I'm not too sure about this..." Barika mumbled.

"If you're scared, Rika--"

"I'm _not_ going to let you go alone! I may be a little scared, but if I'm going to back down on this, I'll never be able to handle any of the bigger fears."

"OK... and, Rika?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks..." Barika smiled as they walked through the shifting sands of the desert, bound for the Pride Lands.

_To be continued..._


	14. Where's Shani?

There are some cute/amusing lines in this one... and even a little spoof to _The Producers_ (2005 edition) within. Longer chapter ahead with kinda makes up for the recent shorter ones. Read on and Happy New Year! 

Chapter 14:

Morning finally came, and Timon was still fast asleep. He was laying on his back with his left foot dangling on the edge of his nest. Still beside him, Zuri was just awaking up with a stretch and a yawn, and then she winced. "Ow!"

Upon hearing that "ow" Timon immediately woke up, jumped to his feet, and then out of his nest, cupping his mouth with his paws. "Call the water! Boil some family! _**I'm in labor, here!**_" He paused a moment, and then starting hitting himself on top of his head. "I would've hoped the second time I'd get it straight! Call the family and boil some water! _**Zuri's in la--**_ _Ow!_" Timon stopped his ranting when Zuri threw a pebble at the back of his head. He turned around, rubbing the spot where the pebble made contact, and looked at Zuri. "What happened to _slapping_ me when I become hysterical?"

"I didn't want to get up," Zuri replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "And I'm not in labor, Timon... meerkats don't go into labor after just five weeks."

"Well, how was _I _supposed to know? I've never been pregnant," Timon smiled apologetically as he walked back over to the nest and helped her to her feet. "Then what was that 'ow' about?"

They both stepped out of the nest as Zuri rubbed her backside. "I just moved and a piece of straw poked me." Then she brought the paw back to her front to check for blood, which there was none. "Time to relay the leaves."

"Yeah, well, make sure you don't relay them while I'm still lying in there. I'm going back to sleep," Timon yawned as he began to climb back into the nest.

"Hold it." Zuri reached over and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, pulling him back over to her. He grimaced and furrowed his brow at her. "A moment ago you were wide awake, screaming to have the family boiled, and now you're going to go back to sleep just like that?"

"Well, why should I be awake when there's plenty of morning left to sleep away?" Zuri arched a brow, and Timon mimicked her actions. "What, you have an early Lamaze class you wanted to drag me off to?"

"Of course not... it's only Tuesday and Lamaze is Friday. " She released him and put a paw on her hip. "I thought you were going to go find Shani and talk to her first thing. I'm sure she's calmed down by now and she wants answers and to know you still love her."

Timon looked up at the treetops briefly with his lips pouted, as if thinking about it. He then waved a paw and went to climb back into the nest. "I'll make it second thing."

Zuri's jaw dropped briefly, and then she furrowed her brow. "_Timon..._"

Timon suddenly turned around and smiled at her. "Kidding, kidding." He patted her on the shoulder as he went to walk away. "I'll go talk to her. She's probably with our mothers having breakfast."

"Uh, just so I'm clear, Timon..." Zuri spoke up to stop him. She walked over to him and put her paws on his shoulder. "What are you going to _tell_ her?"

Timon looked at her for a moment, and then inhaled deeply. "I'm going to apologize for blowing up at her and her instincts and I'm..." He exhaled deeply, as if defeated. "... I'm gonna help her understand how we used to live. It'll make her happy and less aggressive towards me." Zuri tilted her head and smiled. He added with a mumble, "And _maybe_ even tell her about the 'tunnel klutz' days. ... _EXTREMELY LARGE_ maybe."

"As long as you consider it," Zuri smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. "You talk to your daughter, I'll fix the nest, and then I'll come back and tell her the _correct_ history of the colony." Timon wrinkled his eyebrow and slightly grimaced, but then it turned to a grin. He moved to walk away again when he heard his name being called.

"Timon, Zuri, wait a minute!" Both of the meerkats turned to see Timon's mother Panya trotting to meet with them. She stopped in front of them and panted softly. "I was wondering if you've seen Shani yet today."

"We just woke up. I was just about to go find you and Dalila and see if she was with you," Timon said with a blink.

"I haven't seen her since the re-enactment performance yesterday," Panya replied with a shake of her head, worried. "And she's never late to meet with Dalila and me."

"Calm down, Ma... she's around here somewhere, and odds are _someone's_ seen her today." Timon folded his arms in front of his chest and furrowed his brow. "By now the word's spread that she's the mystery digger and she's probably in hiding. I know _I_ would be."

"_Everyone_ knows you would be, Timmy." Zuri giggled softly at Timon's expression, and then they stood to attention when suddenly a hollowed horn sound echoed throughout the oasis.

Timon furrowed his brow and put his paws on his hips when the echo subsided. "Hey, I thought _I_ was the only one allowed to blow the meeting alarm..."

"It must be Uncle Max. He's gathering everyone together, probably to talk about what to do about Shani," Zuri said as she put a paw to her chest.

"Well, c'mon," Timon sighed as he started walking along. "They can't start the meeting without me."

_Five minutes later..._

Everyone gathered around the largest tree near the stream, waiting for everyone to arrive. Kito, Bango, and Morake approached the group, and almost right away the group began whispering among themselves.

"You think it's true?"

"Why not? If Shani's been digging, why not Kito? He's her older brother, after all, and the younger would copy the older."

"That might explain his attempts to make good around here..."

"Yeah, to try to make up for putting someone in a hole."

Kito pretended he wasn't hearing them as he made his way through the crowd towards the front, where he would normally go in the meetings. As he made his way through his eye caught sight of Dajan, who was looking right at him. Kito paused a moment, and then growled and made his way towards him. Dajan's eyes sneered as Kito drew closer, still holding a hatred of him for the night before. He barely moved when Kito grabbed the front of his fur and pulled him closer to his face.

"It was _you! You_ told them about Shani! Who are you to put my sister on the spot like this? Was it for turning you down as a mate?" Kito growled, his grip on Dajan's fur tightening.

"Yes and no," Dajan replied calmly, but he kept his sneer. "You know I hate being told 'no,' and telling everyone that your sister is the digger also opens a window to the thought that _you_ could be helping her." Kito's pupils shrunk and his lip curled into a snarl, barely able to keep himself from ripping the slightly older meerkat's throat out. Dajan noticed and smirked. "The colony already knows you won't do _anything_ worthwhile, and you wouldn't have won that fight with me anyway... next _Brain-dead_ one."

"_**That's it!**_" Kito growled and tackled him to the ground, knocking over a few of the neighboring meerkats standing.

Bango and Morake winced at the growling and meerkats falling over and rushing to pull the two apart. "Well, _he's_ getting his exercise for the morning..." Morake said with one eye closed.

"Good thing for us," Bango nodded.

With the help of three meerkats on each side they were able to pull Kito and Dajan apart. "All right, break it up, break it up! We're here for a meeting, _not_ for the last slice of centipede!" a meerkat said as he pulled Kito away.

Kito struggled for a moment, and then stopped to pant, glaring at Dajan. The three meerkats holding onto him guided him to the front row next to his grandmother Dalila, while the other three put Dajan out of his eyesight near the back. Soon the crowd parted for Timon, Zuri, and Panya, who were making their way to the front. Uncle Max and Shomari, Zuri and Sudi's father, were already waiting in the middle of the semicircle. Kito, Dalila, Sudi, Penda, Pete, and Sly were in the front row, waiting for the meeting to start. Panya stood next to them as Timon and Zuri joined Max.

"All right, we're here... now what's all this about?" Timon asked as the crowd gathered together again.

Uncle Max tapped a stick into the palm of his paw as he turned his eyes to Timon, speaking loud enough for the colony to hear. "What is this rumor I've been hearing, Timon, about your daughter digging tunnels in the oasis?"

"You called a meeting just to ask me about a rumor?"

"Is it true or not, Timon?" his father-in-law Shomari spoke up.

Feeling a little cornered, Timon tried to make an excuse. "Well, Shani's at a stage in her life right now where the wants to dig up her bugs instead of peeling them off tree bark, that's all. It all depends on how you look at it, Dad."

Zuri elbowed Timon in his ribs, who grunted softly and rubbed the spot. She then cleared her throat. "It's not a rumor, Uncle Max, Papa... Shani finally caught onto the old meerkat instinct of digging."

A few surprised gasps were heard in the crowd, and Kito's eyes widened. "_Instinct?_ Digging's an _instinct?_"

"Does she understand why she's doing what she's doing?" Shomari asked the two of them.

"Uh... well..." Timon clicked his tongue as he ran a paw through his hair. "She _might_ have a clue, but I don't know. I was so upset with her attitude last night I told her to forget about those instincts, and she ran off. Said she wanted to make her own decisions about that kind of thing." Penda, who was the last person to see Shani, looked thoughtful and looked at her feet. "Before you called the meeting I was going to go talk to her."

"Do you know where she is?" Pete asked from the front row. "I haven't seen her yet, myself. _Everyone's_ supposed to come to the meetings."

"She was supposed to have breakfast with Panya and me, but she hasn't shown up yet," Dalila spoke up as Panya nodded. "I'm starting to get worried..."

"I haven't seen her since last night," Kito spoke up with a shrug.

"Shani's probably got her head in the ground again," Dajan snorted. Kito looked back at him and growled, but Dalila put a paw on his shoulder to keep him in place. "Like some ostrich! _Ha!_"

"_**Dajan!**_" Shomari growled. "Keep your voice down or I'll have you thrown out of here!"

"_**And don't be calling my daughter an ostrich!**_" Timon copied Shomari's growl.

Kito blinked a few times. "What's an ostrich?" The colony got back to the previous subject, about where Shani was. The group looked amongst itself and revealed she was not present, nor that anyone had seen her today.

"She's not here... and neither are the other warthogs," Uncle Max mumbled as he nodded his head towards the back where Bango and Morake sat. "Was the alarm not loud enough?"

"Oh, it was loud enough," Sudi spoke up, sticking a finger in his ear. "They were probably on the other side of the oasis when they heard it and it's taking them longer to get here." Suddenly Pumbaa and Jina raced towards the group, looking worried. "And here they are."

Pumbaa stopped by Bango and Morake, panting heavily. "Sorry we're late, but we were looking for Barika. Has anyone seen her?" A few meerkats muttered, and then most spoke up and said no. "_No one_ has? Now I'm _really_ worried..."

"Calm down, Pumbaa, she's around here somewhere," Timon said, and then paused, putting a paw to his chin. "Why does this seem familiar to me?"

Jina shook her head at Timon. "No, _no,_ she isn't! We have breakfast together every morning and today she never showed up! We've looked _everywhere!_ We haven't seen her since last night!"

Sly suddenly thought of something. "Last night? You haven't seen Shani while you were looking?" he spoke up.

"Not a hair, why?" Pumbaa asked.

"It seems the last time anyone has seen her was yesterday... and now Barika's missing, too."

Pumbaa's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, no, Shani's missing, too?" He suddenly started sobbing hysterically. "_**Timon, our daughters were kidnapped!**_"

The meerkats nervously backed away from Pumbaa to avoid getting wet from the tears. Suddenly Timon snapped his fingers. "_That's_ why it sounds familiar! It's like when Kito and Bango disappeared last year to look for Sly! And _we_ thought they were kidnapped." Pumbaa suddenly stopped sobbing and blinked a few times.

"They couldn't have been kidnapped, could they? I mean, Kito and I just left in the middle of the night while Shani covered for us," Bango said with a blink.

"Yeah, it was _you_ guys who assumed we got kidnapped," Kito nodded, and then nervously smiled when he received a look from Timon.

"Why would they leave, though?" Morake asked, swishing his tail.

"Oh, dear..." Penda suddenly said, putting a paw to her mouth. She felt Sudi put an arm around her shoulders.

"It's OK, Penda, I'm sure they're around here playing... maybe they found a new hiding spot behind a waterfall or something," he said to calm her down.

Penda shook her head as she stepped up to Timon and Zuri. "_No,_ I mean I think they really _did_ leave, if Shani had the real reason to." Timon and Zuri both widened their eyes and listened to her as she clasped her paws together. "I'm _so_ sorry, Timon, I had no idea she was upset with you about _that..._"

"Upset about _what?_" Timon asked, concerned.

"I... I spoke to her last night after your argument with her." Timon gasped and widened his eyes more. "She was upset that you were making her decisions for her and I told her that she was old enough to do that by herself. It was _her_ life, and..." she softly sighed and shook her head. "I had no idea it was about instinct or I wouldn't have encouraged her like that, making her own decision about leaving."

"Are you saying she made up her mind to leave the oasis on her own?" Timon asked, looking shocked.

"Not on her own... if she took Barika with her," Jina gasped when she realized. "I understand Barika might go to protect her, but why would _Shani_ leave?"

"Because Shani's following our old meerkat instincts..." Shomari began.

"... And she knows it's no good to dig _here_ anymore..." Panya followed, putting her paws to her mouth.

"... So she's left to find a place where she _can_ dig..." Dalila followed the trend in a soft voice.

"... And not be discouraged about it. But where is she gonna find a place like that around here?" Kito ended and looked at his elders.

The group was silent for a moment as Timon rubbed his chin with his paw. Suddenly a light bulb lit up in his head. "A meerkat colony in the Pride Lands!" he exclaimed.

"_**The Pride Lands!**_ Barika's never been to the Pride Lands before!" Pumbaa looked panicked.

"And Shani's never been beyond Pride Rock!" Timon also looked panicked. "They don't know what's out there! They'll get eaten for sure!" He pushed his way through the crowd of meerkats towards Pumbaa. "We've _gotta_ go after them and bring them home!" He jumped onto Pumbaa's back and onto his head, grasping his ears.

"Hold on a minute, Timon!" Sly shouted as he went through the crowd of meerkats towards Pumbaa. Zuri and Kito followed behind him. "Don't take off yet!"

"You've got 60 seconds to tell me why I shouldn't and I'm gone, starting now. Tick-tock-tick-tock..." Timon tapped his invisible wrist watch and mentally counted the seconds.

"The Pride Lands are a big place, in case you've forgotten. It'll be like looking for a beetle in a haystack..."

"... Tick-tock, 49 seconds, tick-tock... and it's actually a lot easier to find a beetle than a needle in a haystack. Tick-tock..."

Zuri stepped up next to Sly and tried to help him reason. "You don't know where to begin! Meerkats like to move around in the Pride Lands, so the colonies that were there last spring are probably gone by now."

"... Tick-tock-tick-tock, so I'll ask around. No big deal. 30 seconds, tick-tock..."

Sly grimaced and folded his arms in front of his chest. "That's _really_ getting on my nerves, Timon. Either you quit _ticking_ or I'm gonna _tock_ you."

Timon gulped slightly and nervously smiled. "Fine... 25 seconds."

He continued. "And like you said, Shani's never been beyond Pride Rock... she's gonna be relying on her instincts heavily just to find food, and if she's very lucky she'll find a colony that'll actually _accept_ a female."

"18 seconds... what are you getting at?" Timon arched a brow.

"Mob leaders see female rogues as a threat, and if she finds one _before_ we get there..." Timon stopped tapping his wrist and counting the seconds when his brother trailed off, and exhaled. Seeing this, Sly continued. "In order for us not to stray off-course so much, it might be better if we had a clear view of what she's thinking."

"And _how_ do you propose we do that, Sly? Phone the Psychic Friends Network?"

"No, but it might be cheaper to ask that chimp Rafiki. But since neither one of us is crazy about him, let's go with something that's a little easier to come by... a meerkat just a year and a quarter old with instincts."

"Why that particular age?" Zuri asked.

"Because they're the same age as Shani, younger and more naïve, and most of them have never been to the Pride Lands, like Shani. Their senses are at their peek for new experiences. It's duller for meerkats our age. If we took one of the younger meerkats along they'd probably know what Shani would do and where she'd head off to."

Kito's eyes widened slightly when he realized. _A meerkat the same age with instincts?_ He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his teeth, and furrowed his brow. _Shani, you rotten sister, if I get ridiculed for this...!_ "_**Take me, Dad!**_" He shouted louder than he intended, and grabbed the attention of everyone present.

Timon look at his son, nearly floored. "_Kito?_"

"So he _has_ been digging!" Dajan pointed. "_Freak! Tunnel freak!_"

Kito was too set to convince his father to let him go that he didn't even pay attention to Dajan. He did hear him, though... subconsciously he clenched his paws into fists that shook violently. Instead he opened his eyes and stepped up in front of Pumbaa, looking up at Timon. "I'm the same age as Shani, and I _have_ been feeling the instincts! They're not exactly as strong as hers, but if it'll help, I wanna go with you to find her!" Timon gave a look like he was going to say no, so Kito pressed on, closing his eyes tightly. "I found Uncle Sly last year and I was just a pup... so why can't I find my own _sister_ as an adult?"

Timon's expression softened as he looked down at Kito, and then he heard Pumbaa speak. "It might not be a bad idea, Timon. He _is_ the type Sly said we should take," he said softly. Timon put a paw to his forehead and rubbed his temples. "He could help us find Shani quicker than alone."

Timon slowly removed the paw from his forehead and sighed. "I want this to be a short trip, so only _one_ warthog and a limit of _two_ or _three_ meerkats leaving." He looked down at Kito and nodded his head to Pumbaa's back with a slight grin. "Climb aboard, pup." Kito smiled as he climbed onto Pumbaa's back and got comfortable. Timon blinked when he noticed Sly starting to climb up with Kito. "Where are _you_ going?"

"You said two to _three_ meerkats. I'll come along to help you think straight and show you where I remember some of the old meerkat colonies were. Sometimes meerkats take abandoned tunnels. You'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off if I don't come along."

Timon blinked with a wrinkled brow. "How can a chicken run if it doesn't have a head?" Sly grimaced and waved it off. "All right, you can come along, but that's the limit!"

"What do you mean that's the limit? You're not letting _us_ come?" Zuri asked, referring to herself and Jina. She jumped slightly when she felt a paw on her shoulder.

Dalila was the owner of the paw. "Zuri, I know you're worried, but you're carrying now and it's not the best of ideas to go and stress yourself. It's harmful to the pups. It would be _much_ faster with fewer travelers," she said gently. Zuri's expression softened, and then she sighed and nodded.

"Thanks, Mom," Timon winked at his mother-in-law. He pointed at Zuri. "And I _mean it_ this time, stay home." Zuri grimaced, but nodded.

"Just bring the girls home safely, all right? And be careful," Jina said softly as she lightly nudged Pumbaa.

Pumbaa returned the nudge. "Hakuna Matata! We'll be back before the end of the week."

Panya stepped up and looked at her sons. "Timon, Titus--" She put a paw to her lips at her slip, and at Sly's sour expression, and corrected herself. "I'm sorry. Sly... don't take too long out there. I've already lost you both one too many times."

"Don't worry, Mom," Sly said with a wink.

"We'll be OK!" Timon smiled reassuringly. Panya smiled slightly and nodded, taking a step back. "Let's not waste anymore time... heigh-ho, Pumbaa, away!" Pumbaa glanced upwards at him with a furrowed brow. "... Please, go." Pumbaa nodded and then started running towards the desert with the three meerkats in tow.

Panya watched after them sadly, and then looked up at the sky. _Buzz... please watch after them again..._ Soon the group began to disperse, except for Bango and Morake, who watched after them.

"I hope Kito's not doing this to prove he's worthy of the next Great one," Morake whined softly.

"If he is, we've helped him all we can," Bango said, looking a little sad.

As they turned to walk away, Morake broke the silence asking, "I wonder if he's gonna start saying 'fortune favors the brave?'"

"I hope not..."

_To be continued..._


	15. Over the Waterfall

Back again! Here we've got a bit of an on-the-edge-of-your-seat type chapter... I hope. Heh-heh... Anyway I borrowed a tad from the Broadway which, I'm sure most of you have read fics based on this particular scene. Doubt I'll need to point it out. Anyway, enjoy! 

Chapter 15:

The sun slowly crept over the horizon between the borderline of the desert and the Pride Lands. Shani and Barika were walking side by side... well, from the lack of sleep their walking path included a few zigs and zags, and occasionally they bumped into each other. Shani rubbed her face in an attempt to wake herself up, but it wasn't helping. Finally, they both decided to stop forcing themselves to walk and together they fell over, Shani on her back and Barika on her side.

"_Huff... huff..._ oh... Are we there yet?" Barika asked in a very tired tone, turning her eye lazily towards the meerkat.

"I think so... we ran out of desert," Shani mumbled with a paw over her eyes. She forced herself to sit up, and then she ruffled her hair a bit and yawned, taking a look at the new surroundings. Ahead of them was a lush land of grass where animals were grazing. Very few trees were visible, and to the west of them was a rushing river. She looked from side to side, and then forward. "Wow... I've never seen _this_ part of the Pride Lands before..."

Barika lifted her head to take in the view and wrinkled her eyebrows. "_These_ are the Pride Lands? It's so _bare!_ There's more grass than trees!" She looked around again, a little more awake than she was previously. "You _sure_ this is the right place?"

"Well, I'm not _too_ sure..." Shani rubbed the back of her neck as she continued to look at the land. "I normally fall asleep on the way over, and when I wake up we were at Pride Rock." She suddenly smiled and clapped her paws together. "But hey, it's far away from home _and_ my father!" Excited, she jumped to her feet, but was slightly off-balanced and fell onto her tail. She grimaced and slowly got to her feet, keeping her balance. "Now we just have to find a colony."

Barika grimaced slightly as she looked at her meerkat cousin, and then she shook her head. "_Uh-uh._ _First_ off, let's go find a place to sleep, OK?" She began to stand with slightly shaky legs. "I don't think I want to get my first sunburn," she nodded towards the sun which had begun to warm the land.

Shani yawned again and waved a paw in front of her mouth. "Good idea... we can probably camp out under one of those trees." Slapping herself in the face to try to wake herself up, Shani started walking ahead, followed by Barika. But almost right away Shani was walking through grass that was taller than she was and Barika was passing her. She grunted and pushed her way through the grass damp in dew, getting her fur wet. She suddenly yelped when she lost her grip and tumbled backwards. Rubbing her backside as she sat up Shani furrowed her brow and growled, "_**OK!**_ Who forgot to mow the lawn?"

Barika, whose larger size made it easier for her to travel through the tall grass, turned back around to collect her. "I'm guessing the gardener has the day off."

"_Day_ off? Look at the size of this grass. I think he took the _**year**_ off!" Shani tiredly sighed as she stood, wiping some of the dew off her fur. "Listen, I know you're tired, but I'm damp and I'm gonna wear myself out before we get to the tree. So is it all right?"

"Yeah, sure." Barika lowered her head down to Shani, who smiled slightly and climbed onto her snout, and then onto her head. Barika then raised her head up, allowing both to see above the grass. "Better?"

"_Much._" Shani placed a paw over her eyes to block the sunlight as she looked towards a large tree in the distance. "That looks like a good spot," she pointed.

Barika glanced upwards at the meerkat, and then towards the tree. She nodded and then walked ahead. As she walked towards the tree she glanced around, noticing some of the animals nearby. "Hey, Shani, what are those?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of a group of grazing zebras.

Shani yawned and looked, then blinked and twitched her nose. "I dunno..." She looked that their odd white and black stripes and shrugged, "A herd of referees?"

The warthog blinked once, and then shrugged. "Maybe." She looked ahead again until she heard heavy footsteps approaching them. She turned her head and gulped. "And what do you call _those?_"

Letting out and frustrated sigh Shani turned to where Barika was looking. She saw 12 round, thick tree trunk-like things coming towards them. "Trees." She turned her face to look towards the tree they were approaching, but then something in her mind clicked and she turned back to the other "trees" and realized they were moving. "Wait a second... _**WALKING TREES?**_" They looked at each other, gulped, and then looked upward.

"Those aren't trees..." Instead of seeing the leafy top of a tree they saw that the trees were actually the legs of four elephants who were walking right towards them. "So what _are_ they?"

"Big. Very... very... _big._" The elephants' eyes were too high from the ground to notice the two smaller animals they were marching towards. They probably would not notice them until they actually did step on them. "Hmm... let's see. What's that word I'm thinking of?" Shani asked in an usually calm tone for this type of situation.

"Run?" Barika returned with the same type of air.

Shani snapped her fingers and smiled. "That's the one. **_RUN!_**" Shani pulled on Barika's ears, signaling her to run. Barika didn't need to be told twice as the elephants were nearly on top of them. Instead of running towards the tree they ran towards the river. From a distance it didn't look terribly wide, but once they reached it they noticed how wide it truly was.

Barika whimpered as she paced along the edge of the river, and then looked back at the approaching elephants. "Oh dear, oh dear, _oh dear..._"

"My thoughts exactly," Shani mumbled as she leaned over Barika's head to look at the rushing river. "It's big... and wet... and it's in a hurry." She looked back at the approaching elephants and grimaced. "But, call me crazy, Rika, but I don't wanna get stepped on."

"I hear ya, Crazy, but what can we do?"

Shani grimaced at her being called 'Crazy,' but decided to let it pass. She looked between the elephants and the river once again and gulped. "I don't like our options, but I guess we'll have to jump over as far as we can."

"Couldn't we just head upstream there the water's not in such a hurry?"

"We don't have time! Just get a running start and jump!"

Once again Barika whimpered as she backed away from the river, preparing for a running start to jump over. Shani gulped and gripped onto the warthog's ears tightly, so she wouldn't fall off. Without looking back they could tell that the elephants were coming even closer. They both took a deep breath, closed their eyes tightly, and Barika ran towards the river, jumping when the rushing water was at its loudest. Time seemed to stop at that moment for the meerkat and warthog as they soar over the river, landing with a large splash about in the middle. Barika coughed as she raised her head above the water, and Shani clung to the warthog's ears for dear life as they were being carried down stream.

"**Don't let go, Shani!**" Barika coughed as she tried to fight the current and swim towards the bank.

"**I don't wanna, but I'm losing my grip!**" Shani gasped as her wet paws and Barika's wet ears made it difficult for her to continue to hold on.

Barika turned her head in the direction the river was carrying them in and saw they were approaching several large rocks that were sticking up over the water. "**Keep trying! I'm gonna try to use those to propel us to shore!**" Shani looked towards the rocks, and then nodded and swallowed, wrapping Barika's hair around her paws and wrists. As they floated by the first rock Barika turned her body and planted her hooves on the side and pushed off against it, sending her closer to the shore, but not far enough. The speed of the river steadily increased as they reached the next rock and did it again. They repeated this three more times before Barika could finally grab hold of the shore and climbed up, panting heavily and soaking wet. But something wasn't right...

"_**BARIKA!**_"

She realized she lost some weight on her back and pressure on her mane. Her head spun in the direction of the scream with eyes wide as dinner plates. Shani was clinging with all her might to the rock they had just propelled off of. "_SHANI?_" Barika shook the water off of her body and paced back and forth, trying to decide what to do. It was at that moment that Shani lost her grip and continued to get carried down the river. "_**SHANI!**_" Barika raced along side her, watching as the meerkat struggled to get her head above water. She also watched for upcoming rocks that she could jump onto and snatch the meerkat out... only to find they had run out and a familiar sight lay before them. "**_Waterfall ahead!_**"

_Shouldn't be a problem, _Shani thought to herself as she gasped for air after her head went under. _I went over waterfalls back home all the time. Shouldn't be _too_ bad..._

Barika ran ahead to the edge to see how tall it actually was. She gulped and felt sick to her stomach... it was higher than the waterfall she stood near to confront her fear of heights back at the oasis. She whimpered, clamped her eyes tightly shut, and backed away, bowing her head down low. "I'm gonna be sick..." Suddenly she heard Shani scream as she went over the waterfall and forced herself to look down again.

Shani was hanging onto an out-hanging branch that lay under the waterfall. She was coughing and gasping as the water beat down on her. She looked downward to see crocodiles were swimming at the bottom of the calmed river. Her eyes widened when she realized how much higher the waterfall was compared to home. "OK... a little _too_ high for comfort." Clenching her eyes tightly she screamed, "_**BARIKA!**_"

Barika whimpered once again. She already felt like vomiting because of her fear of heights, but even if she wasn't she would feel the same way with Shani in this situation. "C'mon, Barika, you can _do_ this..." Whimpering still and without looking down she waved a hoof downward to look for a footrest to climb down. She slowly dropped onto that one and searched for the next one to get closer to Shani.

"**Rika, help me, _please!_ I'm slipping!**" Shani begged, fighting to keep her grip. She found herself whimpering as she dug her claws into the branch to stay put.

"**Just hang on!**" Barika continued to look upwards as she felt her way to get good footholds on her way to reach Shani. She felt the pressure of the waterfall misting her body and blowing against her. Shani panted as she looked at her and smiled at how far she had gotten. Barika returned the smile, but that was a misfortune. As she looked at Shani and took a step at the same time she didn't pay attention at how wet the hold was and slipped, and began to tumble down.

"_**BA-RI-KA!**_" Shani screamed as she watched her best friend disappear from her sight. Barika grunted as she tumbled downed, smacking into rocks and eventually hitting her head and blacking out. She landed on a niche near the bottom, out of reach of the hungry crocodiles. Shani stared down where she saw Barika fall with wide, scared, tear-filled eyes. She couldn't see where the warthog had landed. For what she knew, her best friend was dead. She bowed her head and started to cry. "Rika, _no..._ you said you wouldn't leave me alone..." She clenched her eyes tightly and screamed, "_**LIAR! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE!**_" She bowed her head and then shook it, her shoulders rising and falling as she cried. "You_ liar..._"

She continued to cry like a pup and slowly lost her grip on the branch as she felt herself lose consciousness. She fell along with the waterfall and splashed as she hit the bottom. Hearing the splash the crocodiles decided to investigate, but Shani was carried away by the current, far away from the hungry crocs to notice their next meal was already gone. Shani was carried quite a distance down the river until the current washed her onto shore and went back on its journey. Shani opened her eyes slightly and looked up at the sun briefly before she lost her senses once again.

_To be continued..._


	16. Maybe

Hey all. Nothing to really say this time... take a bit of a breather from the action of the last chapter with the "rescue party." Don't worry, I believe we'll get back with one or both of the girls next chapter. Oh, and don't worry about Sly blinding himself by staring at the sun so much... for those who don't know (or didn't watch that meerkat thing on disk 2 of the _TLK _DVD) the dark markings around the meerkats' eyes protect their eyes from the bright sun. Built-in sunglasses, too cool. So anyway, check y'all later! 

Chapter 16:

It had been three or four hours before when Shani and Barika were separated by the waterfall in the Pride Lands. Timon and his party were still about two or three hours away, treading through the desert that connected them. Timon was riding on top of Pumbaa's head, looking throughout the desert for his daughter Shani. Pumbaa was also on high alert for his daughter Barika. Sly was leaning back against the back of Pumbaa's head, looking up at the heating sun with a slight sigh. Kito was walking beside Pumbaa, throwing some mock punches in the air. He had been riding for more than two hours and he was getting twitchy again, so he decided to get off and walk it off.

After a while a thought came to Pumbaa. "Do you _really_ think it's a good idea to take the route we usually take to the Pride Lands, Timon?" Pumbaa asked as he glanced upwards at the meerkat on his head.

"You choose _now_ to ask that, Pumbaa?" Sly turned his head towards Pumbaa with a slightly furrowed brow. "We'll be there in a few hours now."

"Well, I just thought that--"

"Why _shouldn't_ we take this route? It's the fastest route to the Pride Lands. Faster is better and we'll find the girls faster," Timon replied as he continued to scan the horizon.

"Yes, Shani and Barika wouldn't know that," Sly spoke up, turning back to stare at the sun. "From what I heard Shani always sleeps to and from the Pride Lands, so she wouldn't know which route's the fastest. And Barika's never left the oasis. They could've just gone in a straight line through the dunes and think that it was the fastest route." He turned his head to look up at Timon. "I'm just saying we should try looking at it through their eyes."

"_Their_ eyes were walking through the dark last night..." Timon grumbled.

"And they'll be relying on their instincts to lead them there... that's why we brought Kito along, remember?" Sly nodded his head towards Kito... who had stopped walking beside Pumbaa and began to fight with an imaginary opponent.

"Hoh-_hah!_" Kito acted as he pretended to punch someone in front of him. He stopped to throw a high kick, and watched as his invisible opponent collapsed. "Ha-_ha!_ Victory!" He cockily nodded his head as he planted his foot on the patch of sand that laid in front of him. "Dajan is KOed in the first round! Kito remains the heavy-weight champion of the Oasis! The crowd goes _wild!_" He cupped his mouth with his paws and imitated a roaring crowd.

"What crowd?" Pumbaa blinked as he stopped to look back at Kito. "I don't see any crowd."

"Don't interrupt; I'm fantasizing," Kito replied flatly, then began to bow and "humbly" egged the "crowd" to cheer him on. "Thank you, thank you, and thank _you._ No autographs, please. I'm here 'til Thursday..."

Timon looked back at his son, tossed his paws into the air, and sighed as he looked up at the sky. "_Super..._ my daughter ran away to join a mundane meerkat colony in the Pit of Shame and my son thinks he's some macho wrestler beating up opponents that aren't there. Where did I go _wrong_ with these pups?"

Sly eyed Kito with an arched brow, and then shook his head with a chuckle. "Poor kid... he's got heat stroke." He chuckled to himself again as he sat up and placed an open paw to the side of his mouth. "First rule of show business, Kito: always leave your public wanting more. So _leave your 'public'_ 'cuz your father's _wanting more_ motion."

Kito snapped out of his fantasy with a shake of his head and sighed, throwing his arms down to his sides. "You _really_ know how to spoil a good mood, don't ya, Uncle Sly...?" Sly grinned slightly as Kito kicked the sand a bit, and then he sat up a bit more when he noticed Kito jump backwards when the ground began to break. "_**Yah!**_ I thought we left those at home!"

Timon looked over his shoulder to see, and then spun around with his jaw dropped. Directly in front of Kito was a hole, the size a meerkat would dig. "That's one of Shani's! It's _gotta_ be!" He jumped off Pumbaa's head and rushed over, looking into the hole and inspecting it. He jumped into the hole and wrinkled his nose when he felt something squishing under his feet. "_Eww..._ what'd I just _step_ in?"

Sly slid off Pumbaa's side and trotted over, and then he knelt down to the hole and looked down at his brother. He sniffed a bit and then nodded. "Relax, Timon, it's just mud. She must've been digging for water," he said.

"Well, she could've cleaned up after herself... but this is her handiwork for sure," Timon grumbled as he climbed out of the hole, sat on the edge, and wiped the mud from his feet.

"I can't believe she actually stopped to dig while she was running away from home..." Kito scratched his head as he and Sly helped Timon to his feet. "Well, I guess when you've got the urge, you've got the urge. Guess we're heading in the right direction after all..."

"That's good news," Pumbaa nodded with a smile. "But she's gotta be worn out by now if she's made it..."

"I just hope she's smart enough to know to find a safe place to sleep out there..." Timon muttered to himself as he climbed back onto Pumbaa. Sly soon followed and returned to his previous position. As soon as the two meerkats were back in their previous positions the party started to walk again, with Kito walking beside them to get his exercise.

Kito decided to break the brief silence by trying to change the subject. "So, Uncle Sly, how many meerkat colonies do you think are out in the Pride Lands?"

"Hard to say. There are plenty of different herds of zebra, antelope, giraffe, elephants... it's hard to count 'em down," Sly shrugged his shoulders as his gaze went back to the sun. "Same goes for mobs."

"... Hey, I just thought of something! If Shani found Yasmin's colony she'd be safe, wouldn't she?" Kito asked with a smile. "Wouldn't that be great?"

Sly's eyes widened slightly for a moment, and then he closed them. "It _would_ be... but Yasmin and Shani have never met. She'd probably treat her like any other rogue... although if Barika was with her she could protect her; maybe even tell Yasmin who she is. _Then_ maybe she'd be safe."

"If that's the case, I hope they find Yasmin's colony first..." Timon said with a worried expression. "It's better than some other strange colony. At least we know them pretty good."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Yasmin again. I wonder if she still likes flowers as much as she did back then," Kito wondered out loud. "I wouldn't mind getting to know her brother and sister a little better, either."

Sly smirked slightly as he looked down at his nephew. "Nuru and Naysun? Yeah, they were good friends and potential in-laws. Nuru didn't like me the first week I was there, but I grew on him. Naysun always liked me... I could tell from Day 1 that she had a crush on me."

"I don't remember a Nuru _or_ a Naysun..." Pumbaa spoke up with a bewildered look on his face. "I hardly knew Yasmin either."

"That's because you kept running around all over the place the whole time we were there, Pumbaa," Timon said, looking down at the warthog.

"And _whose_ fault was that, Timon?" Pumbaa furrowed his brow as he looked up at the meerkat, who nervous smiled.

Sly nodded. "We never got a real chance to introduce you to them, Pumbaa. Who knows? Maybe we will this time." He shook his head again with a slight grin. "I still can't believe it's been a whole year since I left. I wonder how they're all doing and where they're living."

"Maybe we'll meet them in the Pride Lands while we look for Shani," Kito said with a grin. "We gotta ask around anyway..."

"Maybe..." For some reason Sly had an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach at the thought of meeting his former colony again. He wasn't sure why, but he did remember his conversation with Jina the day before.

_"You miss her, don't you?"_

Sly grunted slightly at the feeling in his stomach again and rubbed it with his paw, softly sighing. _I feel sick all of a sudden... do I feel like I don't _want_ to see how things have changed in the last year? Or maybe I just don't want to see Yasmin again? Nah, can't be that. Maybe I just don't want to get her hopes up that I'm coming back to her... or see her face when I walk away from her again. _He softly winced as his paw shifted from his stomach to over his heart and swallowed. _Where'd _that_ come from? Guess I'll find out once we get there... but I've got a bad feeling..._

_To be continued..._


	17. Growing Distance

This is a shorter chapter, but it focuses more on Barika this time around, taking some light away from Shani briefly. Should be good, I hope. Read on! 

Chapter 17:

"... Oh... _ow!_" Barika winced softly as she finally woke up. Her heavy eyelids cringed at the bright sunlight that reflected off the water below and into her eyes. She felt sore all over as she slowly and shakily pushed herself back to her feet. She regained her senses enough to realize she was lying on a niche near the bottom of the waterfall, and judging by her pain, she was still very much alive. "_Ohh..._ my aching head... my aching shoulders... my aching body... my--" Barika whimpered to herself, and then her eyes suddenly snapped all the way open when she suddenly realized-- "_**Shani!**_" Gasping and panting she looked upwards at the falls where she last saw the meerkat hanging onto a branch for dear life. "_**SHANI!**_ **Are you up there? Answer me, _PLEASE!_**" It was too high for her to tell if anything or anyone was up there and she began to whimper again. "_**SHA-NI!**_"

"_Boy,_ are you noisy..." Barika blinked her eyes as she turned her head to down below, where she saw a crocodile floating in the water below. At first Barika thought it was just a log, until she saw the log opening its mouth to speak. "And still alive... pity. Did you lose something, pork chop?"

Barika wasn't sure what this animal was... she had never seen anything like it, or seen anything with so many large, sharp teeth. She shook her head to clear it and responded. "Yes! I'm looking for my cousin! Did you see her fall?"

The crocodile closed his eyes and licked the back of his teeth to taste them. "No... you're the only warthog I noticed to fall from those heights... consider yourself fortunate that you're too high for anyone of us to climb. Although if your cousin fell into the water I would have remembered tearing her flesh apart..."

"**_Tearing her flesh apart!_** What kind of animal _are_ you?" Barika asked, horrified.

The crocodile turned a lazy eye upwards to the warthog, a hint of confusion to his face. "What do you mean? I'm a crocodile, of course... a carnivore that kills other animals for food. All I have to do to get food is sneak up on them while they get a drink, and..." He let out a low chuckle when he saw Barika's discomforting expression. "The only thing we've eaten today so far was just some little scrappy rat thing that wondered here--"

That caught Barika's attention. "A _rat_ thing? A meerkat?"

"Mmm... no, it was smaller than a meerkat... a bush baby, maybe... When you're busy trying to get a piece of the flank you don't pay attention to what it's made of..."

"Bushes have babies in the Pride Lands?" Barika blinked to herself. She quickly shook her head. "No, that's not important! Did you see a meerkat fall from the waterfall?"

"We saw _something_fall from the falls a little after we saw you land... I couldn't find anything, but the others are selfish enough to swallow smaller animals in one gulp so they don't share. We do that to each other _all_ the time..."

Barika had a mixed expression; one that showed sickness and sadness. "_E-Eaten?_ Shani was ea-eaten by a croc-o-di-le?" She clamped her eyes tightly shut and shook her head, fighting off tears. "N-No! You-you're _lying!_ Shani _wasn't_ eaten! She _couldn't_ have been! I'm supposed to stay with her! She can't be--!"

The crocodile grinned a sharp, toothy grin as he turned his body to face the saddened warthog. "Well, if you want to stay with her, come on down... with your size, I'm sure a _part_ of you will stay with her for a while..." On that note, seven other crocodiles gathered next to the first and growled at Barika. "You can't stay up there forever... sooner or later you're going to get hungry and you'll make a break for the shoreline. The only way is through us..."

Barika whimpered as she backed away from the edge until her back was up against the rock. Her eyes darted from side to side... setting them on the shoreline behind the crocodiles. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. _Come on, Barika... don't give up... Shani wouldn't let you give up... _Softly panting the warthog gathered herself, stepped away from the rock wall, took a deep breath, ran to the edge and leaped as far as she could go. She could hear and feel the crocodiles snapping their teeth at her as she soared over them, and landed on the back of the last one. "_Oof!_" The crocodile turned his head and hissed at her. "Uh-oh, jumped too short, didn't I?" She nervously smiled as she turned her eyes towards the other crocodiles, who noticed her looking.

"Ooo, _yeah..._ warthog chow!" a crocodile growled as he turned around and swam towards the last crocodile. The other crocodiles did the same, snapping their jaws.

"_Ciao_ is right!" Barika said with a wave as she jumped off the crocodile's back and into the water just as the other crocodiles piled onto the last. They were too busy piling up and looking for her to notice she swam to shore and ran down river as far away from those animals as possible. After running for a fair distance she stopped to pant, looking behind her shoulder to see she was not followed. "Well... I guess... crocodiles can't run as fast as they can swim..." She swallowed as she looked towards the waterfall with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Shani... _so, so_ sorry... I couldn't save you... I couldn't stay with you..." With a sob and a whimper she bowed her head and walked away from the river, wondering how she'll explain the situation back home.

Directly across the river on the other shore opposite of Barika, two meerkats were shoving a coconut shell half towards the river. "Is it just me, or does it seem to get harder and harder to push this shell to the river?" the male meerkat asked.

The female sighed as she rolled her eyes, "It's all in your head. It's the same weight as it was three days ago. Let's just hurry up and get the water while the crocs are away."

"_Right..._" the male sighed, and then grunted when he felt the shell had stopped moving, despite their pushing. Both meerkats pushed against the shell at once, but it refused to move. "Are you sure it's just _my_ head, Naysun?"

"We've hit something," Naysun replied as she walked around the shell to the front. She squinted her eyes, and then gasped. Laying nearly under the shell was Shani, who was still knocked out from falling from the falls and being swept up river. Naysun knelt down and cupped her face in her paws as the male meerkat came to the front. "She's still breathing..."

"I don't recognize her..." the male blinked as he knelt down next to her. "She must be a rogue. Let's leave her be and get the water."

Naysun looked at Shani's face carefully, as if she reminded her of someone somehow. She then shook her head and turned back to the male, who had begun to push the coconut shell around the two meerkats. "No, she's too young to be a rogue... and we _can't_ leave her out here like this."

The male paused a moment to look at her. "Rogue or not, you _know_ how Nuru feels around strangers... and then there's--" Naysun shuddered, anticipating the meerkat's next words. Seeing the shudder, the male held his tongue. "You know it's true..."

She slowly gathered herself and inhaled deeply. "Nuru's not much of a threat, but _they_ are... they haven't been here long enough to know _everyone..._ I'll come up with something. Help me get her into the shell..." She grunted softly as she began to pick Shani up by the shoulders. The male threw his paws into the air in defeat and sighed as he walked around and picked her feet up. Together they laid Shani into the coconut shell, who stirred slightly with a pained expression.

"... Ka... Ba... ri... ka..." Shani sounded close to crying again, and then she jumped slightly when she felt a paw on her forehead. "_No..._"

"Shh... don't strain yourself," Naysun spoke softly as she stroked the younger meerkat's forehead. "We're gonna help you... I promise..."

Shani opened her eyes slightly to look at the meerkat. She could only make her shape out... as well as the color of her eyes. _Her eyes... look like the sky..._ She soon found herself out cold once again as the two meerkats pushed the shell back in the direction they came from, away from the river.

_To be continued..._


	18. On the Trail

Another shorter chapter here... pretty much made this up as I went. Expect to see chapter delays again, hopefully nothing terribly severe. Hopefully, at least, the next chapter will be better thought out and longer. Here's hoping. Read on! 

Chapter 18:

Now out of the desert Kito walked ahead of the group, taking in the view of the landscape. He put a paw to his chin and began to stroke it, wondering how Shani would react to her new surroundings. He had a hard expression on his face, but inward he was quite nervous and regretting. _This was a mistake! I've _been_ to the Pride Lands before, unlike most of the other young adults! I don't know how Shani would react, what she would think things were, _or_ which way she'd go! And Dad and Uncle Pumbaa are counting on me..._

"Well, son?" Timon, who was perched on top of Pumbaa's head, broke the silence as he looked down at Kito. "Any thoughts?"

"Lots, but none-related to finding Shani and Barika," Kito replied in a cool-leveled voice. He decided to try to make an excuse for his answer and came up with the first thing he could think of. "If I was fed, then maybe I could think about _other_ things." And he wasn't making it up... he _was_ hungry.

"We don't have time! Chew some gum and put your mind back in focus." Kito blinked for a moment and walked ahead, wondering what this "gum" was.

Pumbaa heard his own stomach complaining as he glanced up at the meerkat perched on top of his head. "Come to think of it, Timon, I was _so_ busy looking for Barika that I didn't eat breakfast this morning either..."

Timon furrowed his brow and raised a finger. "Don't _you_ start it now! We gotta find--"

"I agree that the girls need to be found, but we _can't_ concentrate on an empty stomach, Timon," Sly spoke up, who was sitting on Pumbaa's back and rubbing his stomach.

"How can you three _**think**_ of food at a time like this?" Timon practically screamed, pulling his ears down hard enough to make him wince. He suddenly released his ears and paused when he heard his own stomach grumble. He nervously chuckled when he received stares from Pumbaa and Sly. "Of... course, we'll be burning off a lot of energy finding the first meerkat colony, and we've burned off most of it crossing the desert. So whaddya say we go to a nice buffet, conveniently located in a nice, rotting log?"

"Mmm-_**MM!**_ Sounds finger-licking good, bro!" Sly grinned as he swallowed the drool that wanted to escape his mouth.

"I _love_ buffets!" Pumbaa cheered, already drooling. "They've got _everything!_ Mantises, crickets, June bugs, French flies, beetles of _all_ shapes, sizes, species, and flavor! What are we waiting for?" He glanced up at Timon, who would normally tug on his ears to signal him to go. Except Timon was looking out in front of him. "Timon?"

Ignoring Pumbaa, Timon placed a finger on the side of his chin with a calm expression. "Let's see..." Timon looked back at Sly, who was arching a brow at him, and pointed at him with a nod. "Voice of reason? Present..." His eyes traveled along Pumbaa's back, and then he nodded again. "Bodyguard-slash-transportation? Present..." He looked back at where Kito was standing, and pointed at that spot. Kito was no longer standing there. "Shani's point-of-view? ... _Un_-present." He tapped his foot for a moment with a calm expression. He inhaled deeply to call for him, but Sly cut him off.

"Wouldn't do that, Timon... draw attention to yourself and the jackals might get ideas," Sly said in a calm voice. Timon gulped the breath he inhaled loudly, and then he coughed. "You remember jackals, right? Big, ugly, slender, big teeth, dog breath? Kinda like hyenas without a hunchback?"

Timon shuddered for a moment before he looked over his shoulder at Sly. "And _that's_ why I let you come along." Sly smirked as he watched his brother walk onto Pumbaa's snout. Timon clicked his tongue as he looked throughout the tall grass that lay before them. "Do you know what Kito's problem is, Pumbaa?"

"Oh, lay off him, Timon. The pup's got that... _'youthful energy,'_ if you catch my drift," Pumbaa said as he watched Timon gaze through the grass.

"I'm _always_ catching your drift." Pumbaa sheepishly smiled and blushed. "And I'm not talking about his _'youthful energy,'_" Timon said sarcastically with quotation fingers. "I'm talking about him taking things literally. I tell him to jerk the line so Uncle Max hits his head on the branch, he goes to do it. I tell him to go chew some gum, he goes and looks for it." Timon tossed his paws into the air, sighing and shaking his head. Then he suddenly had a thought, grinned, and placed a paw next to his mouth. "I mention _Dajan_ and he--"

Kito's head suddenly popped out of the grass a few yards away from Pumbaa and darted in different directions with a growl. "_**Dajan!**_ _Where?_ _**Lemme at--**_" He started to move back towards the group, when he heard a sickening crunch beneath his feet. He wrinkled his nose and sounded disgusted as he lifted his foot. "What'd I step on?" Taking a moment to sniff, Kito suddenly widened his eyes and gasped. "Dad, Uncle Pumbaa, Uncle Sly, get over here, _quick!_"

Hearing his son's cries Timon leapt off Pumbaa's snout and ran over towards him. Pumbaa, with Sly moving to the top of the warthog's head, walked the few yards over to where Kito was kneeling down to a folded leaf with twisted ends on the ground. Timon knelt down and inhaled deeply, and then smiled. "_Mmm..._ smells like Aunt Sylvia's bug-cakes. _Boy,_ did she know how to bake 'em!"

"That's _not_ why I call you over," Kito said with a dry look to his face. He lifted the leaf off the ground, untwisted the ends, and whipped the insect extract off with his fingers. Three colorfully squished bugs fell to the ground from the leaf. Kito held the leaf under his nose and sniffed it several times to be sure of himself. "This leaf has Shani's scent. She's been this way!"

Sly grimaced slightly as he walked off Pumbaa's head and onto his snout. "I don't wanna get your hopes up, pup, but that leaf could've blown from _any_ direction. It doesn't mean she's been in this _exact_ spot." Kito looked up at him with a furrowed brow. Ignoring that look, Sly continued, "It could've smacked in her face after it fell off a tree."

"No way. A leaf with bugs inside with the ends twisted would _not_ fall of a tree," Kito replied defensively, licking the extract off his fingers. He smacked his fingers a few times, enjoying the taste, and then he swallowed. "Besides, _these_ are oasis bugs!"

"How can you tell?" Sly asked with a slight shrug.

"Sly, the pup grew up on this stuff," Timon spoke up as he picked a one of the bugs up and took a bite out of it. "He knows what he's talking about." He chewed it a few times, and then swallows. "Oh, _yeah,_ that's an oasis bug, all right."

"Besides, look at the shells." Kito picked one of the insects up and held it up to Pumbaa. "Bright, flashy, melt-in-your-mouth cream-filled goodness." He yelped when Pumbaa suddenly slurped the bug out of his paws and ate it. Disgusted, Kito shook the salvia off his paws.

Letting the bug linger in his mouth for a bit, Pumbaa finally swallowed and nodded with a smile. "Yup! Oasis bug!"

"See, Uncle Sly? The Pride Lands don't have bugs that look _or_ taste like that."

Sly held up his paws to signal the younger meerkat to calm down. "OK, OK, relax, would ya? So maybe the girls _have_ been through here... so which way did they go?"

Kito gulped. He hadn't thought of what they would do after they uncovered the mystery leaf and its contents. "Where did they go... _right..._" Clasping his paws together he sniffed the grass near where the leaf was found several times. "OK, got her scent..." He fought to push the tall blades of grass aside, and then yelped and landed on his back after the grass fought back and closed, forcing him down. "_Ow..._"

"_Oy..._" Timon mumbled to himself as he yelped Kito back to his feet, dusting him off. "What's the matter, Kito, got low blood sugar or something?"

Kito cleared his throat and tried to regain what little dignity he had left. "If I said 'yes,' can we go and eat, _please?_ I'm starved and I couldn't find any 'gum!'"

"_Pleeeeaaaase?_ Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, oh, please?" Pumbaa begged Timon with his two front hooves pressed together, his tail wagging.

"Yeah, let's eat, Timon. If Kito's right, then the girls have been this way, so we're on the right track. It's easy to get back on the trail if we know where we were," Sly said as he walked back onto Pumbaa's head, looking down at Timon and Kito.

"All right, like I said before, let's go find that buffet log, OK? And, Kito, stay where I can see you this time, OK?" With that Timon jumped back onto Pumbaa's back and climbed onto his head. With a tug of Pumbaa's ears they continued walking, Kito walking next to them.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, Dad..." Kito nervously smiled as he turned his gaze down to his feet. _I never should've agreed to this... I guess I just agreed to this to show I can follow in the family's paw prints. Maybe Dajan's right... agreeing to do this proves I'm the first 'Brain-Dead one...'_

_To be continued..._


	19. Why Did We Save Her?

Well, this chapter is a bit longer than the previous, so that's a plus. Enjoy! 

Chapter 19:

"Come on, come on, _easy_ now... watch out for the corner!" Naysun whispered as she and the male carried the still unconscious Shani through the tunnels. The male grunted softly when his back brushed up against the corner, brushing away some dirt and a pebble. Naysun sighed and rolled her eyes as they both set Shani down to the ground, and the male began to dust himself off.

"_Thanks..._" he snorted softly. "Next time, could you give me a _two_ second warning, so I have _less_ of a chance of bruising?" Naysun didn't pay attention as she rapidly looked down both ways of the tunnel. He twitched his nose and cleared his throat to get her attention back. "_Naysun--!_"

"_Keep your voice down!_" she hissed in a harsh whisper. "We've brought a stranger home with us, and if anyone finds out--"

"Excuse me, _'we?'_" He pointed at himself with wide eyes, and then shook a finger and head at her. "Oh, no, no, no, no. _I_ wanted to leave her there; _you_ were the one who said to bring her along."

"And, uh... _you're_ the one who helped me carry her, Hafiz," Naysun replied with a sly grin. The male called Hafiz opened his mouth to reply, but only made an odd sound before closing it again. Naysun rubbed her forehead and sighed. "_Look,_ we're _not_ gonna keep her, if that's what you're worried about. I just wanted to get her away from crocodile-infested waters and let her recover a bit. Then we send her packing." Naysun then bent down and grasped onto Shani's legs. "So come on…"

Hafiz only stood there, looking down at the female meerkat with a disapproving expression. His brow furrowed and his arms folded in front of his chest. "You've gotten soft, Naysun... three months ago you would've left her there, and if she found her way here you'd chase her off, _not_ give her free room and board."

"Three months ago we weren't being bullied by a couple of rogues who _killed_ my sister and took over the colony," Naysun growled softly with a harsh stare. Hafiz's hard expression softened a bit, but that was the only thing that changed. Naysun sighed softly, her heart still aching from that fact. She turned her eyes back to Hafiz, her eyes almost pleading. "OK, so there's another reason… I want to ask her about her colony."

The male scoffed softly, "Oh, _no..._ don't tell me. First of all, I think if you just tried to stop hiding in their shadows, you _might_ stand a chance to regain the rightful position back from the new bosses. But then, if the bosses knew who you and Nuru _really_ are--" He paused a moment, noting that Naysun was silent. After the moment passed Hafiz continued. "I know you're afraid, but you can't hide the truth forever. Sooner or later they'll find out the truth about you two, that you were her brother and sister. You'll both have to fight them before they _officially_ gain control of the colony." He then pointed at Shani. "And secondly, _this_ one is a rogue… she's practically dead to her colony. Besides, approaching and asking a strange colony to help you take out just _two_ meerkats is suicide. How do you--?"

"_That's **not** the reason!_" she snapped, causing the male to widened his eyes and gasp at her outburst. Naysun regained herself slowly by breathing deeply for a moment, and then exhaled. "Can we move her out of the hallway before someone sees us, _please?_" she asked calmly as she turned her eyes to Shani, who was still asleep.

"Oh, yeah. All right…" With that Hafiz knelt down and lifted Shani up by the shoulders, Naysun lifting her by her knees. Together they carried her to a nearby nest chamber. The previous owner of this chamber was picked up by an eagle nearly a week ago, so it had not been in use since then. They positioned Shani over the nest and gently laid her down inside it, slipping their paws away from her body. Shani softly exhaled and turned her head to the side, smiling at the added comfort. A bit relieved and surprised that they made it this far without much complication, Hafiz dusted his paws off as he turned his eyes towards Naysun, and then he arched a brow. Naysun was actually smiling softly at the younger meerkat. She hadn't smiled in over three months… He quickly lowered his eyebrow to its previous position when she looked at him with a frown. "All right, so it's safe to talk… why are we helping her?"

Naysun dusted her paws off as she looked at Hafiz, as if he had lost his mind. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, _look_ at her!" Hafiz blinked his eyes once as he looked at Shani sleeping. "The color of her hair, the color of her fur… doesn't she remind you of someone?"

"Uh… _should_ she? She doesn't look like anyone from the colony or any rogue I've seen before."

"No, no one from this colony. Do I have to spell it out for you? She looks... like a younger version of Zuri. She looks _so_ _much_ like her it's scary." Hafiz wrinkled his eyebrows and his nose, terribly confused. Naysun looked at his expression, and blinked a few times as a look of realization spread over her face. "Oh. _Oh!_ Oh, I'm sorry, Hafiz, I really thought you've met her before! I guess I forgot there were a few who didn't see her enough to know…"

Hafiz half-chuckled with a forgiving smile. "Honest mistake, I guess… so who's Zuri and why do you care if this one looks like her?" He nodded his head to Shani as he kept looking at Naysun.

Naysun looked at Hafiz with a serious expression. "Hafiz, Zuri was Sly's--the Sly who left us a year ago--old girlfriend from his former colony. And she's the mate of the meerkat who helped avenge the massacre endured by Bintaka's pack, whom you _have_ met before… Great Timon, the son of Fearless Buzz." Hafiz's eyes widened and gasped softly. He couldn't believe his ears. "And she's also… Kito's mother. You remember Kito, don't you?"

"Kito... Kito... Oh yeah, sure. He was about 3 months old, had red hair, blue eyes, six stripes on his back… he was a cute pup. _Wow,_ has it been a whole year already? He's gotta be an adult by this time… in fact, about this one's age," he motioned to Shani, still asleep. He then squinted slightly, as if he was putting together pieces of a puzzle. "So… what you're saying is, you think _she's_ Great Timon's daughter?"

"I seriously think _and_ hope she is… I mean, I've had this feeling from the moment I saw her. Even if she isn't Timon's daughter, maybe she's a part of his colony. She can find him, bring him here, and save our colony again…" She suddenly smiled at her next thought. "Maybe he's even here in the Pride Lands right now…"

Hafiz half-smiled and chuckled as he patted her on the shoulder. "That's a nice thought… if it was true. We don't know if she even knows Timon or not for sure." Before Naysun could protest Hafiz continued. "But you know, we were _supposed_ to be collecting the water before we picked up this freeloader." He jerked his thumb at Shani.

Naysun slapped a paw over her eyes in desperation. "Oh, _geez,_ you're right! They're going to think we've been slacking off!" She removed the paw from her eyes and looked down at Shani. "But what about her? I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her here alone... what if she wakes up?"

"We'll only be gone twenty minutes... I don't think she'll be up and about so soon. Now come on..."

"But still--"

"What's going on here?" Both meerkats froze when they heard another's voice in the doorway of the chamber. They turned and saw it was Nuru, leaning against the frame with one paw on his hip and his fingers tapping the top of his staff. "Well? Who is _that?_" He lowered his head slightly, as if he was glowering. With the thick bangs over his eyes it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

"Nuru! What a pleasant surprise," Naysun coughed into her paw with a nervous smile. "Wh-What are you doing at _this_ end of the tunnel?"

"I could ask _you_ the same question... but the question I want answered is, _who_ is _that?_" Nuru repeated, ignoring the question he was asked.

Hafiz nervous chuckled as he walked up to Nuru and patted him on the shoulder. "We'd love to tell you all about her, Nuru, but Naysun and I didn't get to collect the water and you know how everyone gets when they're parched!"

Both Naysun and Hafiz looked uneasy as Nuru stepped into the chamber, walking with help from his staff, and knelt down next to Shani, looking down at her. He bent down and sniffed her fur several times, twitching his nose as he sat up. "Wet fur... no one else was supposed to get the water, except you two. Even so I don't recognize her at all. Don't tell me..." He looked over his shoulder at the two, his voice nearly growling. "... You've brought a _rogue_ home with you?"

"It wasn't _my_ idea..." Hafiz gulped, holding his paws up and stepping away from Naysun.

"Nuru, _please!_" Naysun pleaded, clasping her paws together and rushing over to her brother. "This is _very_ important! You _have_ to keep this a secret!" Nuru grimaced slightly as Naysun grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. "I know you hate rogues, but I need you to stay and keep her safe while Hafiz and I gather the water. I'm afraid that if we leave her alone, someone'll find her and..." She shuddered, thinking of the consequences.

"Naysun, if you wanted to keep her a secret, you should've kept her somewhere _other_ than here, where it's far away from the bosses," Nuru said softly, as if he was sympathetic to the situation.

"I know, but I choked, and it's too late to do anything about it. Please, do this for me. We won't be gone longer than twenty minutes, and I promise, once we're done with our business we'll send her away. Depending on her recovery, she'll be gone long before sunset."

Nuru was silent, turning his head to look at his younger sister and the meerkat lying in the nest, sound asleep. "... Twenty minutes?"

"I promise, only twenty minutes, and then we'll relieve you! Will you do it for us?"

"... _Ugh,_ I guess I don't have any other choice..." the meerkat sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. "All right, but be quick. I can't _stand_ the smell of wet fur..."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you!_" Naysun smiled excitedly, kissing Nuru on the cheek before she grabbed Hafiz by the wrist and pulled him towards the exit of the chamber. "We'll be back as soon as we get the water, I promise! Sit tight and keep guard!" With that, they were gone, leaving Nuru and Shani alone.

Nuru remained where he was for a minute, and then he stood and walked to the doorframe of the chamber, sticking his head outside and turned his head to the right. He sniffed several times and cupped an ear with his paw. Then he turned to the left and did it again. The tunnel hall was long both ways, and anyone could step in at anytime. Although, Nuru's ears and nose were better and more effective than others', and no one was coming. Knowing this he turned around to face Shani and walked back over to her, looking down at her with a sneer. Inhaling deeply he bent down and pushed his paws under her body until they were on the other side, and he lifted her up into his arms. Leaving the staff by the nest he limped towards the exit, listening carefully for anyone. After a moment of silence and lack of any new smells Nuru limped out of the chamber, carrying Shani in his arms.

"I'm sorry... but you are _not_ staying here... for _any_ amount of time. I'll make sure of it..."

_To be continued..._


	20. With Family

Y'all can tell I haven't thought out Barika's adventure out very well, can't ya? Don't say I don't try. _Eh-heh..._ anyway, after getting to 2 ½ pages for Barika I decided we'd get back to Timon's group with a similar theme, and then we can get right back to Shani in the next chapter. That cool with everyone? Read on. ... _Geez,_ this could turn out longer than _Out of the Blue_ chapter-wise... 

Chapter 20:

About the same time Nuru was removing Shani from the meerkats' tunnel Barika was still wandering further into the Pride Lands, having no idea where she was or which way home was. The fall from the waterfall and the scare from the crocodiles disoriented her and she couldn't think straight of which way she journeyed from this morning. Above all, she was still so tired from the night she spent walking. But she didn't feel safe alone, and certainly not in the open spaces, not after what that crocodile told her about carnivores. Barika knew she needed to sleep, because she wasn't walking straight and she needed to heal from the fall.

Whimpering she finally stopped where she was and collapsed, laying her head down on the grass. "It _hopeless..._ I'll _never_ find my way home. And even if I did, how do I tell Uncle Timon and Aunt Zuri about--?" She stopped herself and whimpered again, folding her front legs over her eyes. She sniffled for a moment, and then paused. Uncovering her eyes she began to sniff and her ears flicked forward. There was a familiar sound and smell nearby, and it gave Barika the energy to stand.

Looking ahead she saw a group of warthogs consisting of three adults and about seven piglets. From a distance and in her condition that's all she could make out. She couldn't tell if she knew them or not, but that familiar smell was taunting her to move forward, which she finally did, but slowly. She crept forward rather awkwardly, unsure of how they would take a visit from a stranger if she didn't know them. Still, she forced herself to be brave. Although her feet were brave, her voice wasn't. She tried to speak several times to get their attention, but no words would come out. Finally...

"Mommy, Grandma, look! Someone's coming!" a young male piglet chimed as he noticed Barika approaching.

Barika stopped dead in her tracks and cowered when the three adults turned to look at her. "Another warthog... who are you and what do you want?" one of the female warthogs demanded, ushering the piglets to stay behind her.

Fighting off a whimper, she inhaled deeply to speak in her defense. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but... do you... can you... I mean... I'm lost and I need help... Can you _please_ help me?"

The old gray female of the sounder squinted her aging eyes at the newcomer as she began to take steps towards her. Barika gulped when she noticed that, but tried to hold firm and keep her position. But as the old warthog drew nearer Barika could make out her appearance better, causing her to blink and rub her eyes with the back of her hoof to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. The old warthog stopped a foot from her and sniffed her in addition to looking her over. "Barika? Is that _you,_ dear?"

"Gr... Grandma Chiku?" The old warthog nodded with a soft smile. Barika, at ease for the first time since she left home, exhaled and leaned against her maternal grandmother as she caressed her back with her neck and chin. "I'm _so_ glad so see a friendly face..."

The other female adult of the sounder watched the two warthogs and even heard Barika's name. She turned to the female guarding the piglets. "Keep them there..." With that she began to approach the elder warthog called Chiku and Barika. "Is it really Barika, Mother?" she asked once she had reached them. "But she's never been to the Pride Lands before..."

Once Chiku backed away from Barika she turned to face the younger warthog. "Without a doubt. It's weakened, but she carries the smell of meerkats and her father Pumbaa. Not only that, but she has Jina's appearance." She turned her eyes back to her granddaughter. "But it _is_ odd that you're here, Barika. Why _are_ you here?"

Barika awkwardly chuckled at that note. "W-Well, you see, Grandma--" She didn't know how to explain it exactly, especially since she originally wasn't alone. Instead she decided to smile to the other warthog. "Aunt Sabir! _Hi!_" She trotted over to her and rubbed her head under her chin, which the older returned the affection.

"Hello, Barika. You've certainly grown up since the last time we saw you at the oasis," Sabir chuckled patronizingly. And then she raised her chin to look at her niece. "So, where's my favorite little sister? She _is_ with you, isn't she?" Sabir spoke of Barika's mother Jina, who was also Chiku's third daughter in her second litter. Sabir was the second daughter also in the same litter. She arched a brow when she heard Barika gulp. "Don't tell me you came alone."

"Well, I--"

"Barika, you're still much too young to be out here on your own, especially since you've never been here before, according to your brother," Chiku mildly scolded.

"Oh, but I didn't come alone, Grandma! Shani came with me, but--" The younger warthog bit her tongue. She couldn't tell them the whole truth... so she decided to speak the partial truth. "... But we got separated. We were being chased by these giant walking trees and by the time I lost them I noticed I was alone."

"Walking trees?" both Chiku and Sabir looked at each other, curious. Neither could imagine what she was referring to.

"Yeah, they were big, fat, gray, and had these really, really _big_ tusks like us, and--"

"Really big, flat ears and long noses?" Sabir asked, starting to understand what Barika had seen. Barika nodded excitedly, glad that she wasn't exaggerating from the lack of sleep. "Those weren't trees, Rika... they were elephants. They're herbivores, so they're nothing to worry about. You just have to watch where they step."

"Herbivores... oh, that's a relief," Barika sighed in relief. But then a thought entered her mind, causing her to blink and wrinkle her eyebrows. "What's an herbivore?"

Chiku shook her head, a bit weary of how educated her granddaughter was of the Pride Lands. Afterwards she finally noticed the bags under Barika's eyes, leaning in closer to confirm it. "Have you gotten any sleep lately?"

Before she could reply with actual words Barika let out a great, big yawn to answer her question. She smacked her lips, eyes dropping, and nearly falling over onto the grass. Sabir hurried over and leaned against her to keep her upright. "Oh, _look_ at you... you're exhausted... and no wonder! You were almost trampled by elephants and separated from your cousin, leaving you all alone in the Pride Lands for the first time..." She turned to her mother. "Mother, is it all right if she--?"

"Oh, yes, of course she can stay with us," Chiku nodded. "Be sure to stay with her while she sleeps. We'll bring you the first tubers we come across."

Sabir nodded and grunted softly as she guided Barika away from the sounder grazing. Leading her away a few hundred yards Sabir stopped in front of a large dug out burrow in the ground. She walked around Barika and nudged her backside with her snout, urging her to enter. With a sleepy moan Barika nodded and stumbled slightly to the bottom, with her aunt right behind. Barika smacked her lips again as she swayed to the nearest nest and collapsed into it, letting out a happy sigh. "Comfort..." She mumbled a few more words as she curled up inside the nest and quickly fell asleep. Sabir chuckled softly as she climbed into a nearby nest and laid down, watching Barika peacefully sleep.

_Elsewhere..._

Pumbaa wedged his snout under a large log, lifting it up and turning it over. He grimaced at the lesser amount of bugs hiding underneath. "I guess we cleaned this one out," he said to the meerkats, who were finishing off the last of the bugs they collected from the first flip.

"Go ahead and finish up what's left, buddy," Timon said with his mouth full. He swallowed the bite and daintily dabbed his mouth with a leaf before letting out a large burp. "I couldn't eat another bite."

"Same here," Sly followed, patting his stomach. He pulled a splinter off the bark he was using as a plate and used it to pick his teeth. "That was satisfying... not oasis bugs, but still slimy."

"I forgot how slim the pickings were out here," Kito muttered as he pulled an insect's leg from his teeth. "Not like it is back home." He licked his teeth as he tossed the leg aside, and looked around the area. Squinting, he stood and spun around. "... This area looks familiar..."

Sly looked over to Kito, and then for the first time looked around the area to see where they actually were. Keeping the toothpick in his mouth he stood and walked forward through some tall blades of grass. Timon wrinkled his eyebrows, dusted his paws off, and then stood and followed his brother. Pumbaa and Kito quickly followed. Sly was muttering to himself as he carefully overlooked the layout of the area. "OK... there's that rock with the grub-shaped dimple... so that means I wanna go... over here." He pointed at another patch of tall grass and pushed through it... and paused. Lying near the patch were two meerkat-sized stones laying next to each other. Sly swallowed and stepped through the grass, walking towards them with somewhat unsteady steps. Timon and Kito pushed their way through and watched him, Pumbaa right above them.

"Sly...?" Timon broke the silence when he watched his brother kneel down to the rocks. Sly didn't reply. He was lost in the moment. Timon looked a little worried, but felt Kito put a paw on his shoulder.

"It's OK, Dad. Uncle Sly just realized where we stopped, that's all," he said, looking to Sly.

"And _that is...?_"

Pumbaa lowered his face down next to Timon and whispered to him, "You were out cold when we came here, Timon, so you wouldn't know. This is where we buried Sengbe last year after the defeat of Bintaka, next to the mate he left behind."

Timon's eyebrows rose, a bit surprised. Sengbe was Sly's replacement father, one could say. After Sly was separated from Timon's colony when he was three-weeks-old by a Martial eagle he was found by a meerkat mother who had just had pups of her own. She decided to keep him and raise him as her own, not telling anyone that he was not hers. She didn't even tell her mate, Sengbe, for fear that he would kill it, since it would belong to another colony. After Sly grew up he was banished and Sengbe left his mate behind to follow him, tired of Shomari's ruling and to make sure his last "son" would live beyond him. The mother died of a broken heart a week later, revealing the truth about Sly to Shomari on her deathbed. Timon never thought much of Sengbe. He would use Sly as a bargaining chip for his best interests, and he even threatened to kill Timon after learning he was the son of Fearless Buzz. But in the end, Sengbe died from his wounds after saving his "son" Sly, just like Buzz died from his wounds to save Timon. He had to respect that much.

After a few minutes of silence, Sly stood and dusted his paws off. "Well, what are we standing around _here_ for? We've got Shani and Barika to find, right?" He was suddenly very cheerful, as if he had forgotten where they were standing. He flicked the toothpick out of his mouth and climbed onto Pumbaa's snout. "What are you guys waiting for? C'mon, let's get a move on! Time to walk off brunch!"

Kito blinked as he watched Sly walk up onto Pumbaa's back, and then he turned to his father. "What was _that_ about?" Kito asked. "A minute ago he was quiet and somber, and now it's like he's ready for a party."

"Well, son, I think he knows he shouldn't live in the past when there's a whole future ahead of him," Timon said as he patted Kito on the shoulder. They walked beside each other as Pumbaa walked ahead with Sly on his back. "Up until last year he thought these two were his birth parents, but that doesn't stop him from missing them. After all, blood isn't what makes a family a family, which explains your Uncle Pumbaa." Kito looked ahead of them at Pumbaa and smirked. "Anyway, Sly knows he shouldn't be sad, because they live on in him. Sengbe died so he could live and be happy, not to be sad. ... You understand?"

Kito smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, Dad..." His smile grew wider when Timon ruffled his hair. Kito chuckled slightly as Timon removed his paw from his head and exhaled. "... So if I don't love Shani does that mean she's not my sister or a part of the family?"

"Sorry, Kito, but you can't pick your family... I mean, come on... do you really think I wanted _Sly_ to be my brother?" Timon asked in a slightly kidding tone.

"I heard that, Timon!" Timon gulped at hearing Sly's voice and nervously chuckled and smiled. Kito grinned and shook his head as Timon put an arm around his shoulders and continued to walk forward in search of Shani and Barika.

_To be continued..._


	21. A Safer Place

Like I said, chapter delays. Most of it was distraction, which I am easily at times. So, continue to bear with me and enjoy watching Shani actually do something... she's gonna roll over. OK, she's gonna wake up now. Enjoy! 

Chapter 21:

About half an hour after she had left, Naysun was in a big hurry, even for a meerkat. For one thing she and Hafiz were already late retrieving the water because they had found Shani. And she had left her brother Nuru, who has a strong dislike of rogues, to watch over her while she and Hafiz collected the water. She wanted to be sure he had kept his word and is now taking care of her. After depositing the water next to a row of water-filled coconut shell halves Naysun made a beeline for the deeper part of the tunnel where she left Shani and Nuru alone. She hurried as best she could without raising suspicion, and finally made it to the chamber. "Nuru?" Nuru was sitting next to the empty nest with his arms folded in front of his chest and his head bowed. His staff was laying by his side as he softly snored. Naysun gasped at seeing that the nest was now empty and rushed over to it, making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. She furrowed her brow, turned her eyes to her brother, and stomped on his tail.

"_YAH-**HAH!**_" Nuru yelped at the pain in his tail and tried pulling it away from the foot that pinned him. But Naysun kept her foot and the tail where they were. "What'd I do?" he growled as he looked up at Naysun.

"Where is she, Nuru?" As she asked she pressed her foot harder on Nuru's tail, making him grit his teeth and wince. "_**WHERE IS SHE?**_"

"What are you talking about?" He turned his head to the nest and sniffed several times, trying to ignore the pain. "She must've wondered off while I fell asleep! You can't blame _me_ for _her_ wanting to leave."

Naysun arched a brow as she looked down at the dirt. There were three sets of footprints on the ground, each of them were different sizes. One set belonged to herself and they were the smallest among the three. The next set belonged to Hafiz, whose feet were much larger than hers. The last set had a distinct walking pattern, as if walking with a limp, and had an additional marking next to them, made by a staff. These were Nuru's footprints. But she did not see any new tracks at all around the nest... apart from Nuru's on the side of the nest. She slowly lifted her foot from his tail, relieving him of the pain. She decided to hurt his ears with a lecture instead. "_What_ did you do with her, Nuru?"

Nuru rubbed the spot on his tail where Naysun was stepping on and looked up at her. "I didn't do anything; I was asleep." He yawned for good measure.

"In the middle of the morning?"

"You've never heard of a nap before?"

"I know you, Nuru! You wouldn't be able to sleep when there's a rogue in the same room! And there aren't any other footprints besides yours, mine, and Hafiz's! Now _where_ did you take her?"

"What do _you_ care--?" Nuru grunted when Naysun dropped down and grabbed him by the front of his chest.

"I care more than you think, and you have _no_ idea of what you've just done! Where did you take her? To a jackal's den? The foot of an eagle's nest? If she's on _anyone's_ menu because of you and your stupid fear of rogues, I swear I'll--!"

Nuru's eyes widened behind his bangs, and then his face scrunched into a growl. "_**Hey,**_ first of all, don't confuse me with the new bosses!" Nuru spat, slapping Naysun's paws from his chest. Naysun gasped at the sudden snap and took a step away from him. Nuru only coolly dusted his chest, but his voice said otherwise. "I'm not cruel like _they_ are! I would _never_ go out of my way to kill someone without cause!"

"And her being a rogue isn't--?"

"_**Hey.**_ You said so yourself, that you'll shoo her off after you're done with her. If she _does_ act like a rogue and try to get into the colony, it'll be a different story." While still looking at Naysun Nuru pawed the ground for his staff, which he found and used it to stand. He walked over to the doorway of the chamber, stuck his head out, and sniffed several times in both directions. After that he turned back to his sister. "Second of all, fear and hatred are two different things. The only things I _am_ afraid of are the predators that hunt us down. My fear was renewed that day." He tapped the tip of his staff on a round-shaped scar on his right ankle. Naysun grimaced slightly, remembering where he received that scar. "Anyway, what do you want with the rogue anyway? What could you _possibly_ want from her?"

Naysun shook her head, still upset about what Nuru had done. But she decided if he knew more about her he may have understood better, if he knew who the rogue looked like. "You have _no_ idea who she might have been."

"_Might_ have been?" Nuru arched a brow, unseen through his thick bangs. He blinked when Naysun came over to him and leaned into his ear.

"I think she's the daughter of Great Timon. She looks like his mate and Sly's old girlfriend Zuri." Nuru's eyes widened again and he gasped. He nearly stumbled, but caught himself on the staff. Naysun helped him upright and dusted his fur. "If she's not related to him, but still a part of his colony, or _was_ a part of his colony, maybe he can help our colony again. I _have_ to try, Nuru... for the colony and our sister's sake..." Nuru softly exhaled, suddenly feeling extremely guilty for trying to lie to Naysun about the rogue. "So please... what did you do with her?"

"... It's too dangerous to keep a female rogue here if you want to keep her alive for whatever reason, especially with the new bosses around. So I moved her to a safer place nearby where she can rest and you can talk to her whenever."

Naysun sighed in relief, feeling a great weight lifted from her chest. "Thank the Circle of Life... but I'll have to go when I'm off digging duty so they won't wonder about me. So where did you put her?"

"In the galago's tree... I just hope she doesn't mind the company..." Naysun's small, relieved smile soon turned into a tired, worrysome frown. She let out a small groan, to which Nuru helplessly shrugged. "I _know,_ but it was the best I could think of at the time. She'll be fine... as long as she can tolerate Komba's _urge_ to speak her mind..."

_Elsewhere..._

Shani felt cold, hard water beating against her body. Her fingers were dug into the dimples of the rock as she desperately tried to climb onto it, but it was too slippery. Barika was safe on the shore, but frantically worried about how she would save her. Finally Shani lost her grip and the rushing water carried her along the river, trying desperately to keep her head under. Shani fought back and managed to capture precious breaths of air, hearing Barika crying out to her briefly.

_"**Waterfall ahead!**"_

There was nothing she could do as she went over the cliff that seemed to be fifty miles high. As she fell she reached out to grab an out-hanging branch... only to miss it at the last possible second. _"**Rika, help me, please!**"_ She opened her eyes and saw the warthog falling right past her and into the mist below. _"**BA-RI-KA!**"_ There was no reply, nor was there time to hear one. Shani only cried as she watched the bottom of the river getting closer, with hundreds of hungry crocodiles waiting with their mouths wide open. Shani clamped her eyes shut as she was in the direct path of one croc's mouth and--

Shani woke up in a cold sweat, panting frantically as she sat up. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were small, scared stiff from the nightmare of the last thing she remembered. She took a moment to regain herself and took a look at her surroundings. She was inside of a hollowed tree trunk, about four feet around and a knothole just above her head. Of course she wondered how she got there, but her head was spinning and she could barely think. So she decided to lay back down with a paw over her eyes... and then she paused. She was leaning against something small, furry, and warm. Without looking back Shani took her free paw and felt the thing she was leaning against. And it was meaty and breathing.

"_Mmm..._ a little more to the left..." a sleepy voice sounded from the object. Shani gasped and sprung to her feet, only to fall back onto her tail when her head began to spin again. "Hmm?" The object stirred, uncurling itself and stretched out, yawning. It shook its head and unfolded its large, bat-like ears from against its head. It was quite small, smaller than Shani, in fact. But its tail was much longer than its body by a few inches. It turned its head and opened its large, round amber eyes to the visitor. "Where did _you_ come from?" it asked in a high-pitched female's voice.

"From the oasis," Shani replied matter-of-factly. The creature looked just as confused as ever from the reply, but Shani paid no attention to her as she began to talk to herself. "But I don't remember much after I saw--" She paused, her eyes filling with tears. Whimpering she pulled her legs to her chest and started to sob. "Barika... I'm _so_ sorry... Why am I still alive after what happened?" She rested her forehead on her knees and shook her head. "I shouldn't be..."

The creature tilted her head to the side, and then rapidly scratched her ear with a foot. "Whatever the reason you're alive and here, I'm not sure what to think of you. If you don't even know how you got here, maybe I should board up the knothole during the day so I can get to sleep." She spoke quite rapidly, almost as rapid as her scratching. Shani lifted her head from her knees and wiped her eyes, unsure of the exact words the creature was speaking.

"Now, wait a minute... I had a dream that someone found me and told me that they were going to take care of me... she had eyes that looked like the sky..." She looked to the creature, who was yawning and smacking her lips. "That wasn't _you,_ was it?"

"I've never seen the sky, but I don't think it's amber. Well, actually, I _have_ seen the sky several times. I mean, sometimes it's clear and you can see the bright dots and that big moon, or sometimes it's really cloudy, or sometimes it's a mix of both. But I never look at the sky when the sun's out 'cuz normally I'm asleep from when the sun rises to when the sun sets. That's just how we galagos are, we're nocturnal and we sleep all day," the creature ranted, rubbing her eyes.

"Gala-_what?_" Shani wrinkled her nose and blinked several times. She's never heard of such a word, nor as she ever seen a creature like her, let alone such a chatty creature.

"Gal-a-go. You know, bush babies. Though I don't understand _why_ they call us bush babies, since we're only babies for a certain amount of time and then we're _adults_ for the rest of our lives. Well, there's always exceptions, I mean a baby bush baby could die or be eaten. That happens out here, so it's hard to say, but we're not _all_ babies." She stretched out and yawned again. "Oh, it's _way_ too late to be awake..."

"... Bushes have babies out here?" Shani blinked, that being the only thing she heard from the galago's chatter. She shook her head to clear it and muttered to herself, "I'm too hungry to understand anything right now..." With that she started to pat at her throat... and paused. She patted several times before she looked down and sighed. "Oh, _great..._ I dropped my bag of bugs somewhere." She turned back to the galago and smiled politely. "Uh, excuse me, Miss... uh, _Miss...?_"

The galago was straightening up her nest when the meerkat grabbed her attention back. "Mm? Are you talking to _me?_ Oh, my name isn't 'Miss.' Really, I don't think I've _ever_ met a _'Miss'_ before. Well, there's plenty of folk who go by 'Miss' Something-Or-Other, but no one I've ever heard actually _named_ 'Miss.' Well, there _may_ have been a 'Missy' among the hornbills, but other than that, nope!" Shani's mouth only hung open, trying to get a word in, but she found herself cut off at every opportunity. She felt her headache restoring. "But for future references, my name is Komba, which isn't the most _original_ name in the world, but then again my parents weren't so--"

"Fine! Miss Komba! _Great!_ Would you mind if I ate off your tree? I'm starved!" Shani finally interrupted, and actually got the word in.

"Why would you want to eat off my tree? The bark tastes terrible, but I guess that's just me. I mean, different animals have different sense of tastes, so do members of the same species for that matter. For example, I like dragonflies and beetles with bright colored exoskeletons, but my brother likes fireflies and spotted beetles. So, like I said, it's an acquired taste. Well, I didn't say it's an _acquired_ taste, but I guess I should say it's a matter of a person's sense of taste." She paused a moment and blinked at Shani. "I thought meerkats liked bugs, not bark. Are you _that_ hungry?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean, I _am_ hungry and I'd like to eat the bugs that are under the tree bark. I'd just want to make sure it's OK if I did, and I promise I won't clean you completely out." Shani was getting confused from the chatty galago, and she couldn't take much more of it.

Komba blinked, and then nodded. "Oh-oh, yeah, sure, go ahead. My tree is your tree. Well, I'm not asking you to _live_ here, I mean, if you're going to spend the day here and take up _all_ my sleep time it's just going to throw off my _whole_ schedule. What I mean is go ahead and stuff your face. Well, not _stuff-_stuff your face, I mean--"

"_Thank you!_" Finally allowed some quiet time and something to eat Shani climbed out of the knothole of the hollow tree, gulping as she looked down the length of the tree. The tree itself was over fifteen feet high, and the knothole was about halfway. Thankfully there was a fat branch just above her head for her to climb onto and eat. She climbed out of the tree and climbed up to that branch, sitting down next to the trunk. She licked her lips as she pulled a large piece of bark from the tree... and blinked. While there was a fair amount of insects lying underneath, it was a comparably small amount when measured up to the oasis. Shani leaned down towards the knothole and called, "Hey! Miss Komba!"

Komba sleepily stuck her head out of the knothole and blinked several times at the bright light. "_Ohhh,_ that hurts my eyes... what's the matter?"

While she was mildly surprised that Komba had very little to say Shani decided to take this as a blessing and continued. "You didn't refill your cupboards! They're nearly picked clean, and I could eat more than what's here!" Nonetheless she dusted the bugs onto the piece of bark and started to inhale them.

"Well, I normally don't eat my bugs right off the tree, not that I hadn't tried, but it's a galago's--erm, _bush baby's_--instinct to snatch the bugs right out of the air instead of picking them off somewhere. So I never touch the 'cupboards,'" Komba explained, scratching her ear with her paw rapidly.

Shani grimaced slightly, having finished the insects she had gathered already, and she was still quite hungry. But she straightened up, confident she could continue and tossed the piece of bark down to the ground. "Well, that's all right. Meerkats have instincts to dig for their food, so _I _don't have to worry about cupboards either." She stood and stretched, a little sore from the waterfall incident. "_Ohhh,_ that's sore." With a small yawn she turned back to Komba. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know if there's a mob nearby, would you?"

Komba was nearly half-asleep, but snapped awake when she heard Shani speaking to her. "Mm? A mob? I don't remember there being any ties to the Mafia, but then again I could be wrong and I hardly ever listen to the news, but--"

"No-no-no," Shani sighed with a paw over her eyes. "I mean, are there any meerkat colonies nearby? Mob is one of the names for a group of meerkats."

Komba suddenly smiled, understanding. "Oh, a colony of _meerkats!_ OK, I get ya... nope, not a clue." Shani sighed and whined at that bit of news, but suddenly perked up when Komba suddenly spoke. "However... there is this one meerkat I know... his name is Nuru. He walks with a limp from an injury he got last year from something or other, but anyway, because of that limp he wouldn't be able to walk long distances, so you have to figure he must live around here somewhere. I don't know which direction he comes from, but if that helps at all--"

Shani smiled as she climbed down the tree to meet her at the knothole and shook her paw. "Thank you, that's all I need to know! I just have to look around and find this Nuru and his colony and I'm as good as being a _real_ meerkat!"

"You're not a real meerkat? You sure look like one to me... well, not that I've _seen_ that many meerkats in my time, and certainly not a lot of females, but--"

"Good-bye, Ms. Komba! Thanks again!" With that Shani climbed down the rest of the tree and took off to the north, leaving a tired and bewildered galago alone.

"Huh... chatty little thing, wasn't she?" With a small smile she shook her head and climbed back into her knothole in the hollowed tree to return to sleep.

_To be continued..._


	22. Why She Left

I noticed a little pattern here... I've got four separate groups here, and I've been sticking two in the same chapter as of late... or the last time I actually wrote. (Sorry 'bout that, just didn't have the zest to write at the time... 'specially since _KH2_ came out. Had to finish _Chain of Memories_ first.) So I guess I'll stray from the main groups for a bit to show how things are in the oasis. Hopefully I won't abandon them to linger in limbo for like thirty chapters like I did in _Out of the Blue..._

Chapter 22:

A lone June bug flew off a lush, green leaf of one of the oasis's trees and onto the ground. It buzzed as its wings fluttered momentarily and started to walk forward. When its back was turned Morake boredly dropped his paw on top of it, scooped it up between his toes, and dropped it into his open mouth. Bango was lying in front of him, looking quite bored and watched the cheetah eat. His left cheek was laying on top of his hooves while Morake chewed on his crunchy June bug.

"Some fun, huh, Morake?" Bango asked with a yawn, and then he smacked his lips.

Morake swallowed and then licked his front paw. "Some fun, huh..." He looked from side to side, his tail swishing slowly in the air. Inhaling deeply he sighed and rolled onto his right side. "I'm bored. This has _gotta_ be a record-breaking time of doing 'nothing' we've _ever_ done and the day is barely half over. Feels like something's missing out of our schedule."

"Like what?"

"Dunno... what do we usually do at this time of day?"

Bango pouted his lips as he thought for a moment. "Well, that varies. There's eating, sleeping, bungee jumping..." Morake grimaced and shook his head. Bango continued, "uh, swimming, white water rafting, training--"

"_That's it!_" Morake lifted his head and pointed a paw at Bango. "Training! We usually train with Kito around this time!" He turned his upper body so that it was laying upright while his back legs remained on their side. "Gee, I never thought I'd miss training until Kito took off this morning."

Bango blinked his eyes a few times and raised his head up with his brow furrowed lightly. "Y'know something, Morake? You're right. I actually _miss_ the training, too. It's like a daily thrill that ya can't get from bungee jumping."

"Kito's probably having his own thrill right now... out in the Pride Lands, looking for Barika and Shani..." Morake grimaced slightly as his eyes shifted in the direction of the desert. "I don't like this feeling, Bango. The five of us are always together at some part of the day, ever since I came here. It just... feels wrong."

"Are you trying to say you want to go after them?"

"Well, yeah. I'm worried about the girls, too. And besides that, someone needs to be there to make sure Kito doesn't do something stupid."

"I think it's too late for that," Bango mused to himself as he pushed himself back onto his feet. "Uncle Sly suggested a young meerkat who _hasn't_ been to the Pride Lands before, and you and I both know Kito has."

Morake thought about it, and then he nodded as he stretched out and sat up. "You've got a point... but he's also good at finding people, and he's been training with us. Maybe it's a good thing he went instead of someone else... even if he's probably doing it to prove he's the next Great one."

"_What_ did you say, Morake?"

Morake wrinkled his eyebrows as he looked at Bango, whose eyes had widened and was looking away from him. "I thought you already went through puberty, Bango. I mean, your voice just got--"

"That wasn't me." Bango gulped and pointed behind Morake, to which the cheetah turned his head to look over his shoulder, and lightly gulped. Behind him were Zuri and Jina, who were just passing by when they overheard the two teens talking.

Zuri stepped forward, pushing some vines out of the way and stepped up to the pair. "I mean it... _what_ did you say, Morake?"

"Uh... I said... I mean, we... were..." Morake stumbled a bit, pawing the ground.

"... Just... going over lines from our play? Yeah, that's it!" Bango chimed in, thinking he thought of a brilliant cover-up. He smiled and nodded, "We were just going over lines from our play, Aunt Zuri. And we're pretending Kito is speaking his lines with us."

"So, is it your line or Kito's next?" Morake mimicked Bango's acting and tried to play along. Zuri and Jina looked unconvinced.

"Actually, I think it's your line, Morake."

"Oh, _duh!_ You're right, my bad." He took a deep breath, as if ready to speak his lines, but then he gulped that breath when Jina got right in his face and gave him a look. Morake nervously smiled. "You're, uh... you're not buying this, are you?"

"Not one syllable," Jina replied.

"So how about you give the truth a whirl, huh?" Zuri asked from the ground, tapping her foot with her paws on her hips.

The two boys looked at each other, as if asking what the other thought. Morake helplessly shrugged, and Bango sighed, defeated. "Kito's gonna kill us when he finds out..." he muttered. Bango cleared his throat and spoke up for his mother and aunt. "Truth is... well, y'know about those play rehearsals we've been doing?" Zuri and Jina exchanged glances, and then both turned back to Bango and nodded.

"Well, they weren't play rehearsals _per say..._" Morake began with an uneasy look.

"Then what were they, _per say?_" Zuri asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

"They were, _per say..._ predator fighting rehearsals?" Bango said uneasily, and then ducked his head down to the ground and covered his eyes with his hooves.

"_**Predator fighting rehearsals!**_" Jina and the two boys winced when Zuri suddenly screamed that. She stomped over to Bango, climbed onto his snout, and pried his hooves from over his eyes. Bango noticed his aunt there and nervously smiled. "Bango... why would my son want to practice fighting predators for?" Her voice had suddenly become cool and calm, but the look on her face said otherwise.

"Uh, well--"

"The _truth,_ please," Jina quickly added.

"Crud," Bango muttered to himself. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, and then nodded. "OK, the truth is... Kito wants to prove that he can follow-up to Fearless Buzz and Uncle Timon and be the next Great one."

Morake spoke up, "Everyone expects him to be, 'cuz he's Timon's oldest son and he already showed some potential with the slingshot trick in the hyenas' cave. But Buzz and Timon fought off predators without any kind of training, and Kito wanted everyone to think he could, too."

"That's why we never said it was _that_ kind of rehearsal..."

Zuri's expression had, by this time, softened greatly as she put the pieces of information together. "So... his tricks to remove Max from the holes were also--?"

"Yup," both of the boys nodded.

Jina lowered her eyes slightly. "Oh, poor Kito... that must be so hard for him, trying to live up to everyone's expectations like that just because he's the eldest son. So I'm guessing he didn't help Shani with the tunnels then?"

Bango shook his head. "Not that we know of. He spends so much time with us, I can't see how he could've been."

"No," Zuri spoke up, causing the other three to turn her way. "Shani did it alone... and maybe..."

"Zuri?" Jina sounded curious and a bit concerned.

"I just wonder how Shani fells about Kito's attempts. I've heard people talk about Kito and his attempts, but never once had I heard anyone talk about the possibility that _Shani_ could be the next Great one... because she's female." Zuri looked down at her swelled stomach and put a paw on top of it. "Maybe... she felt she wasn't going to amount to anything besides being Timon's eldest daughter. And she didn't want to be known as the Misfit Digger." She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "And maybe... besides wanting to follow her natural instincts... _that's_ why she really left."

"So she wouldn't watch as Kito gets all the positive attention and glory?" Jina asked with a bit of understanding.

"As just a face in a crowd, whose father, when she left, still wanted to make her decisions for her. That's how _I _would feel, if I was her... That's _how_ I felt before I met Timon..." Zuri sighed and looked off in the direction of the desert with sadness in her eyes. "Oh, Jina... six of the most important people in our lives are out there... and we can't do anything about it..."

Jina softly sighed as she followed her friend's gaze. "We can pray to the Great Kings, Zuri..." She lowered her face down to Zuri's level and brushed a cheek against her. "That's all we _can_ do for now..."

As the two mothers stood next to each other for comfort, Bango and Morake sat together and watched them. Bango softly sighed and whispered to the cheetah, "We can't go after them right now... Mom and Aunt Zuri need us right now."

Morake reluctantly nodded. "You're right... Kito'll have to wait for us." With that the two of them padded next to Jina and Zuri. Bango brushed up against his mother and leaned his weight against her, to which Jina returned the affection. Morake lay next to Zuri and lightly tapped her with his nose. Zuri smiled lightly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Together they stayed this way, hoping things in the Pride Lands were peaceful.

_To be continued..._


	23. A Change In Plan

About the time I posted the last chapter my brother went into the hospital. It was to put his stem cells back in to kill off some more cancer cells and up his white blood cell count (I think). He's back home now and steadily regaining strength, appetite, and hair. So that's a good thing. At least this is a longer chapter and we'll (finally) reduce the number of groups. Enjoy! 

Chapter 23:

About half an hour after Shani took off to find her colony Naysun was relieved of her shift. Nuru had been waiting for her by his normal sentry tree post, impatiently tapping his foot. He was uneasy and for several reasons: he worried about the rogue's _true_ intentions, whether she was just unlucky in the river or she came to _appear_ that way; he had hoped that he would not have to visit Komba again so soon, granted he had yet to actually talk with her today, but that would change once they'd reach the tree; and above all, he was worried what would happen if the new bosses suspected where he and Naysun were wondering off to at this time of day. He only hoped Hafiz would cover for them if such an occasion was to happen. But he was going to have to put those nagging senses aside while the two of them set off to the tree. The walk took less than ten minutes, and Naysun prepared to call up to the galago.

"_**Kooooooooooombaaaaaaaaaaaa!**_" Naysun cupped her mouth with her paws to call up to the knothole of the tree. Nuru winced slightly, since he was standing right next to Naysun when she yelled. He took a few steps away from her to spare his hearing and inhaled deeply to sigh. He paused suddenly and sniffed a few times. Following his nose he walked a bit further from the tree. "_Komba, I don't want to have to climb up there! **Wake up!**_"

They heard a loud yawn from high above, and the source stuck her head out of the knothole. Komba was sleepily rubbing her eyes and blinking at the bright sun. "_Oww..._ that's bright. Is daytime the new 'nighttime' now? Everyone seems to think I should be awake because _everyone else_ is awake. I mean everyone else doesn't seem to think nighttime as a time when _others_ can go out and about. The sun isn't out during nighttime and that's when _I_ like--" Even when she's groggy and tired Komba's speedy chatter was not disrupted.

"I'm _really_ sorry to wake you, Komba," Naysun interrupted, pressing her paws together, "but is that meerkat girl up there awake yet? I _really_ need to speak with her."

"_Ahh..._ so it was _you_ who put her up here? Not that I mind, but I like getting my sleep in and not to be disturbed, but I just found it odd that a total stranger of a meerkat wonders into my tree and wakes me up. She didn't even know _what_ I was, which is somewhat understandable, I mean how many people _really_ know what galagos are, especially if they're all asleep when I'm awake? _She_ didn't even seem to know how she got up here so I figured--"

Naysun cringed a bit... it was always hard to get a word in with Komba and she would hear you. "No, _I_ didn't put her up there! Nuru did! He did it so the new bosses wouldn't find her!" she called up to her.

Komba blinked and looked downward, noticing Nuru for the first time. "Oh, good evening, Nuru! Oh, wait, I should be saying 'good _morning,_' shouldn't I? Or is it _afternoon?_ You know how I am with time differences and when I'm not in my normal sleep schedule, but--" She stopped herself when she noticed Nuru was not giving her acknowledgement of hearing her. He was busy sniffing around and feeling the ground. Komba furrowed her brow slightly. "Nuru, it's not nice to be rude! But I probably shouldn't scold _you_ about rudeness; _you_ were the one to not bother to wake me up to tell me you put a strange meerkat in my tree for safety, which I could've said 'yes' or 'no' to if given the chance, well I may have said 'yes, as long as she doesn't disturb my beauty sleep,' but instead it confused both her _and_ myself and--" Komba stopped to yawn again, and then Naysun spoke up during the break in speech.

"She's awake then?" Naysun asked with an eager smile. "What's her name? Where's she from? Is she all right?"

"She's not here," Nuru finally said, still feeling the ground. Naysun looked over her shoulder at her older brother with a confused look on her face. She walked over to him and knelt down next to him. Nuru was lightly touching some meerkat's footprints, which were leading towards the north away from the tree. "These aren't mine... they were made at least half an hour ago. It could be her, but I only really know her scent by her wet fur. She's gotta be dry by now."

"_She walked off?_" She turned back to look up at Komba and furrowed her brow. "_**You let her leave?**_ Komba, I _**need**_ to speak with her!"

Komba yawned and tried to stay awake. "Well, I didn't know _why_ she was in my tree to begin with and neither did she, so there wasn't a reason to try to make her stay. Besides, I sent her to your colony anyway, not that I told her which way to go because I didn't know myself but... If she finds the colony you can meet up with her easy!"

"... You sent her to find our colony?" Nuru asked with a raised brow, unseen through his thick bangs.

"Well, like I said, I don't know where your colony is, so I just told her a little about you, Nuru, not much, mind you, just that you walk with a limp and I figured you had to live somewhere nearby if you can't walk that far, and she just picked a direction and took off. She said she was looking for a meerkat colony, didn't say why, though."

Nuru stood and turned to Naysun, leaning his weight on his staff. "I _knew_ it! She's just a rogue trying to get into the colony! Forget asking her about Timon; she wouldn't know a thing! We're not having _anything else_ to do with her!" He started to walk away to the west, where the colony was. "We gotta warn the colony!"

"Nuru, you don't know that for--" Naysun began, then stopped when she saw Nuru suddenly stop, moving his left foot side-to-side, then back and forth. "Nuru...?"

"Naysun... _please_ tell me I'm not standing in what I think I'm standing in..." Nuru whispered, not daring to look down. Naysun looked down and softly gasped. She moaned slightly. "I was afraid of that..."

"Did he step in something? Should I grab some leaves and sticks and help ya clean--?" Komba began as she looked down, and then she gulped. From up in her knothole she could clearly see what sent chills down Nuru's spine: he had stepped into a reptile's slithering trail... and it was also heading north. "I... don't think leaves and sticks will be any use here..."

Shaking his head Nuru finally stepped out of the trail and shuddered slightly. "It's fine, Komba... it's not heading for the colony, so we're safe for now."

"But what about that meerkat girl? I mean, you're not just going to _leave_ her alone knowing they're both heading in the same direction and there's a chance they're going to meet up, are you?"

"Of course n--" Naysun began, only to have Nuru speak up.

"-- _We are!_" Naysun grunted in frustration and furrowed her brow at Nuru. "Naysun, don't give me that look!" Naysun's face remained unchanged and Nuru groaned loudly. "Naysun, she's a rogue; all she wants is to get into our colony!"

Naysun growled and stomped her foot. "You don't know that for sure! If she _is_ from the oasis colony we could have a chance to save our own colony! I _want_ to take the chance!"

"Oasis?" Komba's large ears twitched, having heard that word recently. She leaned down to look at the two meerkats. "What's this about an oasis colony?"

Nuru sighed and cleared his throat, getting ready to speak up to her. "Naysun thinks that that rogue could be from a certain meerkat colony, mainly because she looks like someone she knows. The leader of that colony helped us a year ago, and his colony lives in this oasis somewhere."

"Hmmm... I wonder if that's the _same_ oasis she mentioned..." Komba wondered out loud to herself.

"_**Say what?**_" both Nuru and Naysun asked in different tones. Nuru sounded in disbelief and Naysun sounded excited.

Komba blinked and looked down at them once more. "Why would you want me to say 'what' for? It's not a very impressive word, but then again it _does_ get a lot of questions asked."

"No-no-_no!_ What was that about her being from that oasis?" Naysun asked eagerly.

"Oh. Well, when I first saw her I asked her where she came from and she said she was from 'the oasis.' She didn't say which one, though I know there are several out in the world, although I've never seen them myself, but I figured 'well, maybe she's just come from an oasis in the desert. How many meerkats live in oasis's anyway?' So maybe she made a pit stop or--"

"She said she's from an oasis?" Naysun smiled, clapping her paws together excitedly. She turned to Nuru, who still looked in disbelief. "Oh, Nuru, she _must_ be a part of Timon's colony! I just _know_ it! Come on, we gotta get to her before that python can!"

Nuru slapped a paw over his bang-covered eyes with a grimace and groaned. "This _isn't_ happening..." With that, Naysun grabbed Nuru by the wrist and ran to the north with him, following the tracks.

Komba watched the two of them run off and shrugged slightly. "Good night to you, too." With that she yawned and ducked back into her knothole to get back to sleep.

_Elsewhere..._

Shani hadn't wondered off too far from the tree when her hunger pains started up again. She was still determined to find a large amount of bugs under tree bark, but like Komba's tree they weren't so plentiful. But nonetheless when she found a bug she ate it. After the third tree she decided to give up and dig for her meal, which she did. She dug under the roots of a small bush, unaware that she was being watched from another group of bushes.

Swallowing a mouthful of insects Shani stood straight up and looked around. "... Hello?" She turned in a circle, looking a little concerned. She thought she heard a hissing sound nearby... but then she shook her head. "Must've been the wind." She licked her lips and lowered her upper half back into the hole for more insects. The hissing sound was heard again, this time louder. Shani stood straight as an arrow again, chewing another mouthful. She gulped it down and grimaced. "That's _not_ the wind..." She slowly turned around, and found herself face to face with a very strange creature. It caused her to tilt her head, unsure of what it actually was.

"Sssalutationssss," said the creature, whose forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth. Shani had never seen a creature such as him. His body looked like one long, thick vine without legs or paws, his skin looked like it was covered with millions of soft, flat, shiny stones, and his tongue looked like it was ripped in the middle about a forearm's length (a meerkat's forearm). But one thing Shani was certain of was... his smile wasn't all that friendly.

"Uh... afternoon," Shani smiled politely. The snake (a python, by the way) advanced towards her, looking into her eyes, and Shani began to back away from him, trying not to look in his eyes. _This guy doesn't have any respect for personal space, does he?_ she thought to herself. "Uh, hey, listen... uh, you _can_ listen, can't ya? Where are your ears anyway? Do you know where a meerkat colony is around here?"

"If I did, I'd be a _very_ full sssnake by now..."

"Sssnake? Or is it snake?" Shani smiled awkwardly, still trying not to stare into his eyes. "You must really like you're S's, don't ya? What's a snake? Or is it sssnake? Are you a--?" She yelped when she tripped over a stone and landed on her tail. As she looked up she found herself staring right into the python's eyes... and she found she couldn't look away, as hard as she tried. Something in her gut told her to forget about looking and start running... but she was frozen stiff. All she could do was quiver and stare back. _What's going on? I-I can't move! What _is_ this thing?_

"What I am..." the python's smile widened as he wrapped his coils around Shani and began to squeeze. "... Isss a _very_ happy python, and _you're_ a tasssty little sssnack."

Shani's teeth grit slightly and she found it harder and harder to breathe as the python tightened its coils around her. Still, she couldn't look away from the python. She was gasping for air and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. The python flicked his forked tongue once more as he raised his head and opened his mouth wide, unhinging his jaws._ I can't... I can't breathe...! Help me... someone, please help me!_

Suddenly thundering hoof beats were heard in the distance, quickly approaching. The python blinked, breaking the hypnotic hold he had on Shani and looked towards the sound. It was a herd of zebra being hunted by a lioness. Many of the zebras steered to the right, but a few more steered in the direction of the python and Shani. The python quickly released his grip on Shani and quickly slithered into the bushes where he came. Shani dropped from his coils onto her side, her head spinning from the trance she was in. She put a paw to her head and looked forward... her eyes widening when she saw the zebras racing towards her to outrun the lion. She was frozen stiff again and as a zebra was nearly on top of her--

"_**Get your tail down here!**_" Suddenly a paw emerged from the ground, grabbed her by the arm, and yanked her down into the hole, just as the zebras trampled the spot where she was before. Nuru pulled her into him to make sure she was still in one piece, panting slightly. Shani seemed to regain her other senses, as she suddenly gasped and coughed into her mouth, trying to recover from having her lungs squeezed.

Naysun dropped into the same hole and rushed over the two of them, panting a bit. "Is she... is she all right?" She was out of breath; she was in a neighboring tree and was going to make some noise to grab the python's attention enough so Nuru could dig up next to him and grab Shani while he was distracted, but the zebras came running and plans were changed. She was unable to climb down the tree in time to push Shani into the hole when the zebras did come, but luckily Nuru was there.

"Probably... she just needs to get her breath back," Nuru replied, patting Shani on her back a few times and then holding her out in front of him. Shani panted hard, her throat was hoarse and her chest was hurting, both from the coughing and from the squeezing. She put a paw to her throat and made a painful swallow, and her face winced. "And judging by the amount of coughing, maybe something to drink?" Panting, Shani nodded and raised her eyes to meet his face. She blinked in surprise when she realized his eyes were covered by his bangs. She would've questioned that, but her throat hurt too much to talk. She just allowed the two of them to lead her out to find a water source.

_To be continued..._


	24. Equal Trade

Originally I wanted to put this chapter together with the previous one, but then it'd get too long and wouldn't fit right together. As much as I'd like to try getting back to the other groups I'd rather get back to Shani and finish up their conversation. Then we'll get back to one of the other groups. I got this one up quick, but that doesn't mean it'll happen often, sadly. And don't be afraid to sign reviews for the previous chapter, too! See y'all when I see y'all! 

Chapter 24:

The safest place they could take Shani that was not Komba's tree was the space under a dead tree that was at least twenty minutes away from the tunnels. While Nuru collected the water for Shani to drink Naysun collected Hafiz to stand guard on the outside. None of them had yet to officially spoken nor introduced themselves to Shani until it was safe and she was able to talk back. She had just finished drinking the water from the nutshell and wiped her lips off with a contented sigh. Naysun was sitting next her, while Nuru decided to sit closer to the opening, away from Shani.

Shani cleared her throat as she set the nutshell down. "That's better..." Her voice was slightly raspy, but it didn't bother her enough to stay silent. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you need more?" Naysun asked as she pulled the shell closer to her to set it aside.

Shani shook her head, lightly touching her throat and clearing it again. "I can stand to talk."

"You're very lucky," Hafiz said, looking over his shoulder and into the space. "There aren't too many meerkats that can say that much after being confronted by a python."

"Python? I thought he was a 'sssnake.'"

Nuru rolled his eyes, but it was unseen through his thick bangs. He continued to look outside as he explained, "A python _is_ a snake. There are several different types of snakes out here and they all have different ways to kill you. Next time, you should be more careful _never_ to look a snake in the eye." His own eyes sneered slightly. "The eyes are a window into the soul, and to look through a window of something so cunning and twisted..." He shuddered at the thought. "Brrr... it can paralyze you. But I guess you figured that out today, didn't you?"

Shani looked over at Nuru as he spoke, and as she nodded to answer him her eye caught sight the staff that laid by his side. _Well, he _was_ walking with a limp, so maybe... _"Are you... Nuru?" Nuru's ears twitched slightly in response, but he continued to look away from her. Shani smiled a little awkwardly and twiddled her paws a bit. "Wow. I gotta admit I thought you'd look differently."

"How's that?" Nuru snorted slightly, still looking away from her.

"Well... much older, hunched over, lots of gray hair..." She nodded her head as she eyed Nuru's bangs. "_Shorter_ gray hair. I just didn't expect you to be young, that's all." Nuru looked over at her with an arched brow, but Shani couldn't read his face because of his bangs. "I mean, I've never heard of a _young_ meerkat with a limp before."

"_Anyone_ can have a limp. Don't limit that to just old meerkats," Nuru slightly growled, and then looked away again. Shani grimaced, feeling she's offended him. She felt a little worse when she saw him rub the round scar on his right ankle. She would've asked about that, but decided against it, or else she may say something else to offend him.

Hafiz turned back to look at Shani with a smile. "Don't take it the wrong way, pup; Nuru's a pretty great guy once you get to know him. It's nothing personal; he just hates rogues." Nuru snorted and folded his arms over his chest. "He always has."

"I am _not!_ ... What's a rogue?" Shani, at first, looked insulted, but then she remembered that she has heard of the word before, but she never knew what it meant. She had heard the stories of when her parents met and got together, but she never questioned what a 'rogue' actually was. It didn't matter much to her at the time though, because she was still fairly happy at the oasis and yet to have those strong urges to follow a meerkat's instincts and eventually she forgot about the strange word until today.

Nuru threw his paws up into the air in disbelief. "She doesn't even know what a rogue _is_ and she _is_ one... Ahh, just look it up." Shani furrowed her brow slightly at him, and then turned to Naysun when she spoke.

"A rogue is an animal who has left its original group and wonders around on its own, usually to try to find a new group that'll accept it," Naysun said, nodding. "So _are_ you a rogue?"

Shani blinked when she learned the meaning of the word and frowned a little bit. In all reality it was true. She _did_ leave the oasis colony and she _was_ looking for a colony to teach her how to be a normal meerkat. And she's just found one. "Yeah... I guess I am."

"Fine. So, do we call you Rogue, or do you actually _have_ a name?" Nuru asked, still looking away from her. Now that she's confirmed that she is a rogue, Nuru disliked the situation more and more.

"I have a name... it's Shani."

"Shani... I like that. It's pretty," Naysun smiled. "Oh, that's right... we never introduced ourselves either. I'm Naysun, Nuru's sister." She nodded her head to the opening, where Hafiz was. "And that's our friend Hafiz. He helped me carry you into the tunnels this morning."

Hafiz ducked his head in and gave Shani a smile, wink, and a wave. "Nice to meet ya, Shani." Shani giggled and gave him a wave.

And then she thought of something. "... So I _wasn't_ dreaming? Were you the one...?" She then took a good look at Naysun's sky-blue eyes--maybe a little too close because Naysun was leaning back from her for room. "Eyes like the sky... so that _was_ you! And you said I was in the tunnel already? Then the colony already knows abou--?"

"No," Nuru interrupted, still looking away from her. "The three of us are the only ones who know about you right now. So consider yourself lucky."

"Lucky? What do you mean?" Shani looked just as confused as ever. "But I wanted to get into the colony and--"

Hearing Shani speak those words Nuru jumped to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at her. "I _**knew**_ it! I _told_ you, Naysun! She just wants to get into our colony!" Shani jumped at Nuru's outburst and then she scooted closer to Naysun, who moved in front of her to keep her away from Nuru. "I'll give ya a fair chance, rogue: run now and I won't report it to the bosses."

"_But--_"

"_**Nuru,**_" Naysun growled, who was just about tired of Nuru's behavior, "I told you I'd send her away as soon as I'm done speaking with her, and I'm _**not**_ done speaking with her yet! So sit down and be quiet until we're done!"

"_**Then speak with her and be done with it!**_" Nuru spat, and then he knelt down to blindly grab at his staff, missing it a few times. Once he finally grabbed it he stood and began to walk outside.

"But I... I thought that's why you saved me... to be in the colony..." Shani sounded close to crying. She thought she had found a colony that would accept her and teach her what she wanted to know. She had to lose her best friend in order to find them and now it feels like she's been denied. "Why did you save me if you didn't _want_ me...?"

Naysun turned around to face her and put her paws on Shani's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Shani, but our colony isn't safe right now, especially for someone like you. Female rogues are a threat out here, and our new bosses don't like to show mercy to them. If it were up to me, who knows?" She exhaled and decided to get the talk over with. "Listen, do you know--?"

"But I wanted to find a _real_ meerkat colony and learn how to be a _real_ meerkat!" Shani exclaimed. This caused Nuru to paused as he was about to exit the space, and Hafiz to poke his head in. They looked at each other with curious expressions, and then back at Shani. "And now that I've _found_ one you're telling me I have to leave? It's not fair! Not after all that's happened! Not after what I've lost! Please! _Please,_ don't turn me away!"

"What do you mean, 'a _real_ meerkat?' Didn't your parents teach you--?" Nuru began, irritated about how naïve he thought Shani to be. He still believed Shani couldn't possibly be from that particular oasis where Timon lived. The odds were very slim... but they were better than he really thought.

"Up until yesterday I didn't even know _**digging was an instinct!**_" Shani suddenly snapped at Nuru, causing him to jump suddenly. She stood and walked up to him, who grimaced and backed up against the wall. "My father never told me a **_thing_** about how meerkats live outside the oasis and I thought because of these unusual urges I've been having I was becoming some kind of freak! I left home so I can find a colony that can teach me how to be a real meerkat, and I do _**not**_ want to leave here without learning _something_ about it!"

"We already taught you female rogues are troublesome... and I can see why," Nuru continued to grimace as he looked down at Shani.

Shani paused for a moment after she realized what she was saying and how she was saying it, and then she bowed her head and shook it with a soft sob. "I'm sorry... but I've come so far and gone through so much... I lost my best friend this morning over the falls and I'm all alone out here." Nuru's expression softened a touch while Hafiz sadly shook his head and Naysun put a paw to her lips. "This is my first time in the Pride Lands and I don't know where I am or where I can go... but I _can't_ go back to the oasis... not after what happened to Barika... I just _can't..._" She sniffled as she dried her eyes with the back of her paw and sighed.

_So she _does_ come from an oasis..._ Naysun thought to herself. _Oh,_ please,_ let me be right about this..._ She walked up to Shani and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to look over her shoulder at her. "I'm very sorry about your friend... I know how it feels when someone you love dies." Shani lowered her eyes and nodded once. "But there's something I _need_ to know, and I think you're the only one who can answer it." Shani blinked once and tilted her head as Naysun took a deep breath. "Shani... do you know a meerkat named Timon?"

"... How do _you_ know him?"

"He helped us to avenge our colony a year ago," Hafiz spoke up, causing Shani to look at him. "We had fake monsters to scare off intruders and keep our colony safe, but the hyenas decided to be brave and they attacked, killing almost half of our colony."

"Fake monsters...?" Shani's eyes suddenly widened when she realized who they were talking about. "Couldn't be... you mean the _Nundas?_"

Hafiz's jaw dropped, Naysun smiled and clapped her paws together, trying not to jump and scream. Nuru just stared at Shani for a moment, and then he slapped a paw over his bang-covered eyes, defeated. "I _don't_ believe this. She actually _knows_ about the _Nundas..._ besides the colony no one else knows what they were called except Timon and his group, which means..."

"Which means she _**is**_ from Timon's colony!" Naysun hopped in place, trying to release some pent-up excitement.

"And that means, _your_ colony is _Yasmin's_ colony?" Shani asked, waving a pointed finger at the three of them. She sighed in relief and found herself sitting down in front of a dumbfounded Nuru. "That means I'm safe. I just gotta talk to Yasmin and tell her who I am and then maybe she'll let me come into the colo--"

"It's... not Yasmin's colony anymore, Shani," Hafiz said gently, noticing how Nuru and Naysun reacted to Shani's plan to speak with Yasmin. Shani looked at him with a wrinkled brow and head tilted. "Now's not the time to go into it. And it's not exactly safe in our colony. We don't have a lot of time before we gotta get back to the tunnels. So, Naysun, if you please."

Naysun brushed a mist from her eye and snapped to attention, suddenly forgetting their great discovery. "Oh, right!" She quickly knelt down to Shani and took her paws into hers. "Shani, listen: we need Timon's help again. We have these new bosses, and if you could go back to the oasis and get Timon then we--"

The idea of going back to the oasis struck a nerve. "_No!_ **I'm _not_ going back!**" The three meerkats jumped at her sudden outburst since it seemed out of the blue. Shani yanked her paws out of Naysun's and stood, turning her eyes to look up at the sky outside. "After what _he_ said to me, I just...!" She grunted and folded her arms over her chest.

"He?"

"My father." Nuru's ears twitched at that and he looked towards Shani, a bit curious. "He's totally against these instincts I've had and said they didn't belong there. I felt if _they_ didn't belong there, then _I_ didn't either. So unless I suddenly grow out of these instincts I'm _never_ going home again."

Naysun frowned and lowered her eyes at Shani's refusal, but then she thought of something else. "All right, I'll respect your wishes not to return to the oasis, but if you can _tell_ us the way, then _we_ can get him ourselves."

Shani sadly shook her head. "I... I wouldn't know how to tell you where to go. Like I said before this is my first time in the Pride Lands. And besides I left in the middle of the night; it was dark, and I was lost, and I was dead-tired by the time I got here this morning. Besides, and don't take this the wrong way, I don't know if I can trust you enough to tell you..." She began to stand, but found Nuru pushing down on her shoulder to keep her down and she was forced to sit again. He knelt down to her and looked right into her face.

"_You're_ the stranger here, rogue," he said in a low voice. "It's _us_ who feel we shouldn't trust _you._" Shani cowered a little bit as she looked into Nuru's face. Being unable to look into his eyes made him seem mysterious and at the same time, a little frightening. "We've already shown you some kindness: we've pulled you from the river, placed you in a safe place so our new bosses wouldn't find you, _and_ kept you from becoming the gunk under a zebra's hoof. After all that don't you think we deserve _something_ for our troubles?"

"Well, yeah, but I really don't know the way..."

"Nuru, don't make it sound like you're threatening her," Naysun muttered as she put a paw on his shoulder. "It's not going to help her feel any better _or_ know the directions to the oasis." Nuru looked at his sister with a grimaced and a furrowed brow and softly snorted.

"She's right. All the pup _really_ wants is to learn how we live out here and there's no harm in that," Hafiz spoke up as he leaned against the opening and kicked the dirt. "There's gotta be some way we can _all_ benefit from this without getting into some kind of trouble..." He pouted his lips for a moment, thinking, and then he suddenly grinned. "I've got it... we'll trade."

Shani wrinkled her brow and tilted her head as she looked at the elder meerkat. "What kind of trade?" she asked with a little apprehension.

"That depends. Is there anyone out here who can tell us how to get to the oasis?" After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Shani grimaced and hesitantly nodded. If she _really_ needed to, she could find her way to Pride Rock. "Perfect! Here's the trade: the three of us teach you how to be a meerkat for..." He thought for a moment, and then shrugged, "... a week, let's say, and in return you tell us where we can find the person who can give us directions to the oasis. Fair?"

Shani blinked in surprise, and then she smiled. Anything is better than what was being said a few minutes ago. "Oh, yea--!"

"Are you _crazy?_ That'll never work!" Nuru scoffed at the idea. "The bosses will wonder where we go off to all the time and follow us! We can't just sneak out here to this tree and give her private lessons for a week!"

Hafiz turned and walked into the space under the tree, stretching his arms out in front of him. "I know we can't... that's why I think we should bring her back where we _can_ see her; the tunnels."

"You _are_ crazy, Hafiz," Naysun responded, putting her paws on Shani's shoulders. "If we brought her back to the tunnels then she _won't_ be a secret. Everyone, _including_ the bosses, will see her."

"Why should we keep her a secret? The others all want to get rid of the new bosses just as much as we do. Once we tell them where Shani comes from they'll be all for it and they'll pretend she's always been a part of the colony. I'll go on ahead and spread the word, so when she suddenly comes over the hill they'll greet her instead of attack her." Shani gulped at that last part, and then exhaled as Naysun patted her on the shoulder. "She'll have to memorize a lot of names, but we can help her with that before we bring her over."

"Well... I guess you _do_ have a point..."

As he listened Nuru stood and started to pace the small space, considering all the options. All in all Hafiz made some good points, but then Nuru thought of a new argument, stopped his pacing, and tapped a finger on the top of his staff. "Oh, yeah, yeah, good point, Hafiz, except you forgot about the bosses, or do you _really_ wanna test their 'mercy' factor?" Naysun's face cringed and she made a disapproving sound. For a moment she _did_ forget about the bosses. "They've been here for three months and they've met and seen all the colony members. What are they gonna say or do when _she_ suddenly shows up? What are _we_ gonna tell them?"

"Simple," Hafiz began with a smile and a slight bow. "We'll say she's a lost scout. We send meerkats out to find locations for new tunnels all the time, and not all of them ever come back. We'll just say Shani was one of the scouts we sent out three months ago before the bosses showed up, say she's explored a good distance of the Pride Lands, maybe even the Outlands, and she's just found her way back. It takes a month or more for some meerkats to return, unless we've moved while they were gone, and then it takes longer. It's perfect." He held his paw out flat in front of the other three meerkats and arched a brow. "So, does everyone agree? One week of Meerkat Lessons and shelter in exchange for directions to Timon's oasis. Stack paws on it."

Shani wasn't completely sure of Hafiz's reasonings or some of the terms he used, but if it was to convince Nuru and Naysun to keep her and teach her, then she smiled eagerly and nodded. She was confident she would learn everything there was to know about real meerkats in seven days and satisfy her instincts, and if she did well enough maybe they'll let her stay there. With those thoughts in mind she put her paw on top of Hafiz's. They both turned to Naysun next. As nervous as Naysun was that something could happen and Shani was discovered, she wanted to take the chance and have Timon save her colony again. If she and Nuru could keep quiet about their relationship to Yasmin then maybe they could pull off this secret with Shani as well. All she had to worry about was waiting another week to be done with the bosses. She put her paw on top of Shani's and nodded, and then turned to Nuru. Nuru had his paws folded over his chest and looked indecisive. He wasn't crazy about having to socialize with a rogue or to have her living under the same ground as him, but Naysun had asked him to be more open and not associate every rogue with the ones that struck first. And if it was just for a week, he would bear it. He tolerated Sly after three or four days, so who was to know? And if it worked and they got Timon's help, then maybe things would get back to normal. The sooner, the better.

"Well, I guess I don't have any other choice, do I?" he sighed slightly, and grunted softly as Naysun took hold of his wrist and planted his paw over hers. Nuru sighed again and looked at Shani. "All right, rogue... you've got a deal. I just hope you're ready for this."

Shani smiled and shrugged. "No worries... I mean, what could _possibly_ go wrong?"

"I'll start making a list."

_To be continued..._


	25. A New Search

_Ay,_ I _know,_ I've been neglecting again! The main culprit was once again the _Neo SWAT Kats_ Art-PG. The previous challenge asked us to put extra effort into it, so I've been racking my brain for scenes to do and how to do them and how to portray the characters I was borrowing. Well, aside from the Character of the Month challenge the Art-PG is on hiatus for a few weeks, so it gives me a little more time to work. ... Now if only I wasn't so lazy. Meanwhile, let's get back to one of the other groups, neh? Oh, and thanks to Maran Zelde for this idea! I _really_ didn't know what I would do with Barika! 

Chapter 25:

For Shani, who had begun to learn the names and characteristics of meerkats she had never even met, the day just seemed to drag on forever. Her day in the Pride Lands thus far has hardly been boring. With the rising sun she and Barika found their way to the Pride Lands, were chased by a group of 'walking trees' which were really elephants, swept down a river and went over a waterfall where Barika had also seemed lost, and then she lost consciousness for a few hours, but was saved by a sweet meerkat named Naysun and her friend Hafiz. When Shani came to she found herself inside the tree of a _very_ chatty galago named Komba who told her about a meerkat named Nuru, Naysun's brother. In her search for his colony Shani had her first and almost fatal encounter with a python, who had every intention to have the young meerkat for lunch. Luckily Nuru and Naysun were already searching for her and saved her just as a herd of zebras came close to trampling her, which scared off the python. And now she's preparing herself to meet Nuru's colony, hoping to pass herself off to these 'new bosses' as a lost scout, so that she can remain alive and safe inside the tunnels.

Barika, on the other hand, did not have to do anything of that sort for her safety, and her day was not as eventful. She had survived the fall from the waterfall, landing on niche near the bottom and out of reach of some hungry crocodiles. One croc had given her the idea that Shani may have been eaten by one of them, so now Barika blames herself for letting her fear of heights lose her best friend. After escaping the crocodiles Barika wandered the Pride Lands, trying to find her way back home to the oasis. Instead she found a warthog sounder... the one that her own mother Jina came from. Her maternal grandmother Chiku, her two aunts Sabir and Eidi and several little cousins welcomed her and allowed her to sleep in their burrow. Now fed and rested, Barika pondered her next step.

Outside, Chiku and her daughter Sabir were doing the same. Chiku was pacing and shaking her head. "We _can't_ let her go off by herself," Chiku said to Sabir with a weary, but determined voice. "This is her first time in the Pride Lands; she doesn't know the first thing about the laws of nature."

"You're right, Mother, but if we _all_ go we would be putting the piglets in danger. Someone has to stay here to take care of them, and Eidi can't _possibly_ handle them all by herself," Sabir nodded her head to her younger sister, who was tending to the seven piglets and making sure they stayed in one spot... which was difficult to say the least for piglets their age.

"This is true," Chiku nodded as she stopped pacing, and then she turned to Sabir. "Then I'm leaving you in charge while we're gone. I'm not sure how long Barika and I will take, so be sure you tell the young ones a story so that they may sleep better." Softly panting Chiku decided to sit down, since the pacing and a touch of worrying had worn her out.

"I'm sorry to say this, Mother," Sabir began awkwardly, "but you're not as young as you used to be. If a simple thing like _pacing_ can wear you out, then how will it be when you're trying to lead a young warthog through the Pride Lands for hours on end? And besides that, your eyesight is starting to fade as well. You won't be able to get by simply by smelling and hearing... not without a guide, and we already agreed one warthog can't care for the young ones and Barika hardly knows anything about the Pride Lands."

After a moment of hard staring at Sabir, Chiku lowered her aging eyes and sighed in defeat. "I suppose you're right... and if anything happens to that girl Jina would never forgive me." She sighed again and her face turned serious. "All right, Sabir, I'm going to trust you to take care of Barika during her time in the Pride Lands. If anything happens to her--"

"I'll take care of her, Mother, as well as I take care of my own children." She turned to watch the piglets again and grimaced as she watched a young male tug on the tail of a female with his teeth. Chiku gave Sabir a dry expression, to which Sabir gave a nervous smile. "He's, uh... not mine..."

"_Ahhh..._ that was a good sleep..." Barika gave out a small yawn as she stepped out of the burrow and stretched herself out, and softly winced. Even though she wasn't as tired or hungry she was still quite sore from the fall. But she wanted to get home right away, and no aching muscles were going to stop her. She noticed Chiku and Sabir were nearby and decided to trot over to them. Upon hearing Barika approaching both warthogs turned to face her.

"Well, you look rested," Chiku smiled as Barika nudged her head under Chiku's chin. "How do you feel now, dear?"

"Lots better. I just wanted to say thanks for letting me stay here, Grandma, and I'd better get going, so if you can tell me how to find my way back to the--"

Sabir interrupted, "I'll do better than that, Rika... I'll _take_ you there. There's certainly no way I'm going to let you wander around the Pride Lands by yourself." Barika sighed in relief... she _really_ didn't want to get lost again, in case she ran into some other weird creature that wanted to eat her. With Aunt Sabir around she would be safer. "With two sets of eyes searching we should find Shani in almost no time at all."

Barika gulped as she felt a knot in her stomach. "S-S-Shani?"

"Of course! Where else were you going to go, home? We knew the first thing you were going to do once you recover is leave so you can go look for Shani, and we certainly aren't going to let you go by yourself. There's safety in numbers... so we're going back to the place where you two were separated and start searching from there." Sabir looked upwards at the sun, which was in the mid-afternoon position. "She couldn't have gone terribly far, if she stopped to find a place to sleep..."

"R-Really, Aunt Sabir, there's no reason to--" Barika tried her best to come up with an excuse not to go out and find Shani... but she couldn't think of one. If Shani was alive and they were separated then Barika would try to find her before she tried going home. If she said no it would seem too suspicious, and she couldn't bring herself to tell her grandmother and aunts the truth.

"It's already been decided, Barika," Chiku lightly snorted. "Sabir will be your guide in your search for Shani. End of discussion. Now if you'll excuse me..." Chiku gave Sabir a light brush along her side with her cheek as she walked away from the two, and carefully slid down into the burrow.

Barika moaned softly as she watched her grandmother leave, and then she sighed as Sabir brushed her cheek against Barika's. "I know you want to find her quickly, and I promise I won't slow you down." With the Sabir turned away from Barika and over towards Eidi and the piglets. Barika whimpered and sat down as she watched them. Sabir lightly nudged the piglets, giving extra attention to three or four of them, her own children. With another whimper Barika lowered her eyes and the tip of her tail wagged.

"You _can't_ slow me down... because we're _not_ gonna find her..." She choked back the tears and laid down, crossing her front legs over her eyes, her shoulders shaking. "Because she's_ dead._ And I'll never see her again..."

_To be continued..._


	26. The First Colony

And we _finally_ get back to Timon's group! _Yay!_ I've had a lot of stuff going on lately, so if at any time these guys seem out of character, it's 'cuz I'm not concentrating enough. Sorry for that. But at least this is a long chapter. 

Chapter 26:

Being able to see past or through the Pride Lands' tall grass would be troublesome for _any_ meerkat, but luckily Pumbaa was a warthog, who had eyes nearly on top of his head so he could see well over and beyond the grass. In doing so he's served as a look-out for meerkat tunnels, predators, and Shani and Barika. So far, no tunnels, predators, nor daughters were in clear sight. In the grass Timon, Sly, and Kito were sniffing and looking through the blades of grass, but being so close to Pumbaa it was hard to make out any other scents. They were each on one side of the warthog: Timon in the front, Sly to the right, and Kito to the left. It had been a long day and it was apparent that the search was wearing them out.

"Ohh, _Timon,_ can't we take a break?" Pumbaa asked with a small whine. "We've been on the move for _hours_ now... and it feels like we've been going around in circles looking for this colony. We don't even know if any meerkats are still living there."

Timon furrowed his brow slightly as he looked over his shoulder at the warthog and started pushing aside another patch of grass. "We won't know until we _find_ them, Pumbaa... and I'm starting to think we won't." He turned his gaze to his brother. "Sly, are you sure those tunnels are around here? It all looks the same from down here!"

"It _does,_ doesn't it? Wait here, I'm gonna look for something. It should be nearby." Sly muttered to himself as he stepped through the blades of grass. He had entered a small clearing, with a rather large rock in the middle of it. Sniffing near the rock Sly walked around it, looking it up and down. He made an "hmm" sound as he looked near the bottom and felt the sequence of dimples on the surface. He spread his fingers out and pressed his paw against four specific dimples, which held his fingers in place quite nicely. Nodding to himself, he called over his shoulder, "We're heading in the right direction! But while we're here, why don't get grab some late lunch?"

"_Lunch?_" Pumbaa immediately perked up and seemed completely energized at the thought.

Upon hearing Sly mention food Kito was caught a little off-guard and grunted as he released the blades of grass which smacked him in the nose. Grimacing he rubbed his reddened nose as he turned towards Timon, who had moved past the visible area and into the grass. "Come to think of it, Dad, I'm starving. And don't try to pretend you're not hungry, too; you ate the same time we did earlier."

Timon ignored him for the moment. He had moved ahead and pushed aside a new set of grass blades. Looking ahead at the bare clearing in front of him he glowered a tad and snorted through his nose. "Someone really needs to spice up these spaces... nothing but dirt and pebbles," Timon muttered to himself as he released the blades and started to walk back towards the group. "Flowers, maybe a coating of spackle..." Even though he was hungry he had full intentions to postpone lunch a while longer until they had found the colony. But his growling stomach made more of a complaint than it would normally and Timon patted it to calm it down. "All right, all right, quit being such a grouch, I hear ya. Put on four or five ounces and you could be Zuri." With that he pushed his way through the grass, following the sound of his group's voices and scent... well, _Pumbaa's_ scent, anyway. When he reached the rock Pumbaa was already wedging his snout underneath and lifting it.

"You're sure we're going in the right direction, Uncle Sly?" Kito asked as he gathered an armful of grubs that rested underneath the rock. Sly was gathering an armful of grubs that were crawling around on the rock itself.

"Of course... because when you're this small, it helps to pay attention to the landmarks you _can_ see," Sly said as he dropped the grubs into Kito's pile. "See, when I'm looking for a certain colony, I look around at the details of what's close by. Take this rock for example."

Timon quickly grabbed an armful of grubs from under the rock as Pumbaa set it back down into its original position for Sly to demonstrate. Sly walked up to it and pressed his paw against the dimples that fit into his paw. The other three looked over Sly's shoulder to see what he meant. "What about it?" Kito shrugged.

"It's just like when we visited those graves earlier. I inspected the nearby rocks and looked at their shape and the position of the dimples. In that case, I used the grub-shaped dimple as a kind of natural map, and I knew where the graves were without climbing a tree to get a better view." Sly pointed to the finger dimples with his other paw. "In this case this set of dimple matches the finger spread on my paw and my tips fit inside. So I can safely say that the colony we're looking for _is..._" He muttered to himself as he pointed in a specific direction, keeping it pointing as he climbed onto Pumbaa's snout to look over the rock. His eyes gazed back and forth between the rock and the direction his finger was pointing. When he looked he found that it pointed at a large clearing where a few holes were visible. "... Over there!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's--!" Timon began, only to have a beetle stuffed into his mouth to silence him by Kito, who had a dry look spread on his face.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." With that he bit the head off his own beetle as Timon chewed, swallowed, and furrowed his brow.

Pumbaa tilted his head to let Sly off his snout and eat. Pumbaa wedge his snout under the rock again and lifted it up, held it up with his hoof, and licked the bugs from underside. As he chewed he said, spewing bits and pieces of bugs, "It's better if you eat, Timon. You wouldn't want to try to talk to one of the sentries on an empty stomach. You get _reaaaaaally_ cranky and it might give the wrong impression."

The three meerkats groaned and mumbled as they were showered by Pumbaa's poor table manners. "Say it, don't spray it," Sly snorted, picking the back end of a bug out of his dark hair. "But you've got a point, big guy. Although if you tell the sentry you don't have any intention of taking over, they usually back off and listen to what you have to say."

"_Usually?_" Timon asked, arching a brow as he was about to pop a juicy bug into his open mouth.

Sly half smiled and shrugged. "Well, there _are_ exceptions to every rule. I've heard that there are some sentries, at least one I've actually known, who have struck first and asked questions later. For example, Yasmin's brother Nuru was on guard when Sengbe and I approached him, and he tried to knock our heads off before we even got a word in!"

Swallowing his bite, Timon gave a brief laugh and grinned, "I like him already." Sly replied with a hard sneer, which Timon narrowed his own eyes at. "... He doesn't still attack first when he's on sentry duty, does he?"

"He'd normally give warning threats, but we kinda snuck up on him and he attacked to defend himself." Sly turned away with a furrowed brow and a snort. "Khairi didn't see it that way, though..."

"Who's Khairi?" Since Pumbaa had hardly spent any time with this colony he knew next to nothing about the names of any of the meerkats, with the exceptions of Yasmin and Sly. The names Nuru and Naysun were only mentioned in front of him today.

"He was the leader of the colony and father to Yasmin, Nuru, and Naysun." Sly stuck his paw into the pile of bugs and pulled one out from the middle. "Back when Sengbe bartered our way into Khairi's colony Nuru was trying his hardest to convince Khairi to turn us away, but Yasmin wouldn't accept any of the other males in the colony as a mate, and Khairi himself was already upset at how Nuru 'welcomed' us. He already felt Nuru wasn't worthy of taking over after his passing, and that day didn't help his chances any either."

Kito licked the bug juices off his fingers and tilted his head slightly. "Wait a sec... _Nuru_ taking over? But _Yasmin_ took over the colony, didn't she? I mean, she's the oldest, right?"

"_Second_ oldest," Sly swallowed his bug. "Nuru's the first born and he was automatically set to take over after Khairi." Timon wrinkled his brow, a tad confused. He hadn't formally met Yasmin's siblings, but he knew of them, and he had assumed that she was the oldest as well. He was about to ask the reason why until Sly cleared his throat and lightly sneered at the memory. "Let's just say Khairi felt that Nuru didn't have the right... _'leadership qualities'_ to run the colony."

"Why? What happened?" Pumbaa asked as he lowered his face down eagerly to Sly, his tail wagging in the air. "Did he attack Khairi? Did he strike another peaceful rogue? Did he attack you or Sengbe? Please, oh, please, please, _**please**_ tell us, Sly! I just _hate_ to be left hanging!"

The dark haired meerkat grimaced at the warthog disrespecting his personal boundaries, so he scooted back from him a few inches. "I don't know, Pumbaa... it's not something I'd--" He paused when he felt his paw brushed against a meerkat's foot. Without turning his head he turned his eyes to Timon and Kito, confirming they were both in front of him and staring behind him. Pumbaa made an uneasy grimace as he looked behind Sly. "... Guess I was right." He looked up.

Standing right above Sly was a rather large meerkat, who had his muscular arms folded over his chest, and his foot tapping as he looked down at the meerkat who brushed his foot. "Enjoying your picnic?" he asked with a light growl.

"Uh, yeah, actually," Kito spoke up, doing his best not to reflect he was feeling really tense vibes within this group. He stood, dusting his paws off as he elbowed Timon in the shoulder. "Whaddya know, Dad, there is a colony still staying in those tunnels."

"Must be our lucky day," Timon replied somewhat sarcastically, and then he grabbed Kito's tail as he went to approach the new meerkat to keep him in near. By this time Sly had crawled back over to stand next to Timon and Kito.

"Well, isn't _this_ original?" the new meerkat hissed and started to approach them. "Three rogues come to _my_ colony's land, knowingly eat _our_ food--" He grunted when Pumbaa stood in front of them to keep them from the new meerkat, snorting hot air down at him. "... And bring along a _warthog_ so we can't fight back? Cowards... warthog or no, my colony will fight to the last! Leave now or _fight!_"

Sly moved around Pumbaa to face the meerkat, holding his paws up in plain sight to show they were peaceful. "Hold it, _hold it!_ You've got it all wrong; we're not rogues and we're not here to pick a fight! We're just trying to find someone!"

"Yeah, and besides," Timon said as he stepped out from the other side the warthog, "Pumbaa here only goes after animals his own size. It's not his nature to pick on little guys."

"That's right. I wouldn't hurt a fly... _unless_ I wanna eat it," Pumbaa spoke up with a sheepish grin.

The new meerkat arched his strong brow as he took a look at the group before him. Already his patience was wearing thin, mostly because he would've chased off any newcomers by now. "... Well, find whoever it is you're looking for and get lost! I don't tolerate loitering."

"That's the thing," Sly coughed into his paw as Timon stepped up next to him. "We don't know where they are. The reason why we were looking for your colony is to see if you've come across them or if they passed by here today."

The meerkat furrowed his brow deeper. "_They?_"

"My daughter Shani and his daughter Barika," Timon said as he nodded his head to Pumbaa, who nodded quickly. "We think Shani ran off to find a new mob and Barika--"

"A _female_ rogue? She's asking for trouble then. No rogue has dared to come here today, but so help me if she sets _foot_ near _**my** _mob--" The meerkat grunted as Timon grabbed him by his chest fur and pulled him up to him, growling.

"**_Hey!_** That's my _**daughter**_ you're talking about, tick-puss! And if you lay one _**finger**_ on her, I'll--!"

"_Timon!_" Sly pushed the two of them apart, and stayed between them as he glared at his brother. "Threatening isn't very nice..."

"_He_ threatened first, Tidus Sylvester..."

Sly growled at hearing both of his full names in the same sentence, but instead of acting out on it he rolled his green eyes and sighed an irritated sigh. He then turned back to the other meerkat, trying to salvage the situation. "Look... his daughter was raised without knowing how real meerkats live out here and we think that's why she left; so she can find a colony that can teach her. She doesn't understand how things work in a mob... so she wouldn't know that female rogues aren't welcomed."

"Then why should I practice mercy on her if _she_ wants to come into my colony?" the meerkat asked, folding his arms over his chest. "Why should I make her a special case just because _she_ doesn't understand how nature works here? What makes _her_ so special?" He was expecting the father to threaten to use the warthog against him if he refused to show mercy, so he prepared himself to run and warn the rest of his colony if that happened.

Timon pushed his hair back, almost to the point of pulling it out, doing his best not to scream at the new meerkat. "I can't--" He scoffed lightly, unsure of what to say. He could _easily_ tell him that Shani was the granddaughter of Fearless Buzz, but he'd never believe him. Heck, most of the new people he knew and grew to love at first didn't believed that _he_ was the _son_ of Fearless Buzz! So how would he convince _this_ guy?

"_Well?_"

Downhearted, Timon threw his paws into the air and shook his head. "OK, maybe I _can't_ think of an excuse for you to treat her different, but hear me out, at least." The meerkat furrowed his brow, but after a moment, he nodded. "I love my daughter, as much as I love my son and the rest of my family. ... Well, I'm not as close to Uncle Max, but that's not the point." The new meerkat arched a brow at that as Timon continued. "Shani and I had a fight about her wanting to follow her instincts last night, and I was going to apologize to her this morning... but she was gone. I made her run off because _I _didn't want anything to do with her instincts and if she finds a colony before we find her, not only will I not be able to tell her I'm sorry... but I'd never forgive _myself._"

There was a long silence after that. Timon and the meerkat never gazed away from each other. Pumbaa made a quiet gulp as Sly clenched and unclenched his paws, anxious for the silence to break. Kito, by this time, had climbed up to the top of Pumbaa's head to look down at the 'meeting,' still feeling uneasy vibes. Finally...

"... _Ugh._ I almost feel a toothache coming on," the new meerkat grumbled as he rubbed his cheek. Timon blinked several times... he did not expect that to be his first words after giving him that little speech. Pumbaa and the others looked just as confused. "Hmph. These days it's rare when a stranger comes along and wants you to take pity on someone _other_ than himself. It shows great love, but nonetheless, I can't accept her into my colony."

"Who said we _wanted_ you to take her?" Kito finally spoke up with a furrowed brow, looking down at the new meerkat.

"Excuse me?"

Kito slid down Pumbaa's back so that the new meerkat didn't have to strain his neck to look up at Kito atop Pumbaa's head. "All we want is to bring my sister home before she finds some other colony. We were gonna ask if you did see her to send her to Pride Rock."

The meerkat blinked, both brows raised which made him look less threatening. "_Pride Rock?_ All that talk, Timon, and you'd send her straight into the _lions'_ den?"

"Well, there are a few choice lions I'd rather avoid," Timon said as he folded his arms over his chest, meaning Nala, "but Pumbaa and I have known the royal family for years now and even babysat the princess when she was younger. Our families all know each other and that's the safest place I can think of out here for our girls."

"Wa-_wait_ a minute..." the meerkat lightly groaned, pressing a finger against his temple. He couldn't believe his ears. "I'm getting a migraine... you two are _that_ Timon and Pumbaa?"

"Yup!" Pumbaa beamed, sticking his chest out proudly.

"Isn't it obvious? I mean you know any _other_ meerkats that hang around with warthogs?" Timon asked dryly. "Now listen, it's very important that our daughters come home safe, so if you find a blonde meerkat with brown eyes and five stripes with a brown warthog send them to Pride Rock right away. Will you do it?"

"... If I don't, you'll send the lions on us, won't you?"

Timon paused a moment, as if he was considering the idea. Instead, Sly and Kito both elbowed him in the sides, causing him to grunt and snap back to reality. "Of course not! That wouldn't be right..." He gave his brother and son an equally dry look that they were giving him.

Another round of silence, and then the meerkat sighed, tapping his foot. "All right. If I see them I'll send them there. Now get out of here before someone else from my colony sees you."

"_Great!_ Thank you!" Pumbaa cheered as the other meerkats climbed onto his back. And with that, Pumbaa bounded off in another direction away from the tunnels. When they were a safe distance Pumbaa spoke up. "That was close..."

"You're telling _me?_" Timon sighed, mentally exhausted. "I just hope he'll keep his word."

"And I'm still hungry..."

"Should we look for a new colony now?" Sly asked as he looked up at Timon, who quickly shook his head.

"_**Noooo.**_ If I have to go through _that_ again before I've had a decent meal...! Let's just find a rotting log somewhere that isn't on meerkat turf..."

"Sounds like a plan..." Kito yawned slightly and rubbed his eye as he looked out through the horizon. _Can't believe they _still_ haven't said anything about me having been here before. I guess they've got their minds on Shani and Barika. What'll I say to them when they _do_ find out? And will we find them? Shani, you rotten sister..._

_To be continued..._


	27. Her New Colony

**_IT'S BEEN OVER A MONTH SINCE I LAST UPDATED?_** _Geez,_ I'm lazier than I thought! But I have a few excuses; lots of relatives have been visiting, had to do some serious cleaning, work on my new Neo SWAT Kat character and his recruitment story, and just last week (Wednesday the 23rd) while we were all out, someone broke into our house and stole our safe and some guns (and odds and ends stuff)! Of course, the 23rd wasn't the best day ever anyway except I got my hair cut, but you can read about it in my latest journal on deviantArt. Let's see if I can get back into the swing of things, eh? 

Chapter 27:

"How many stripes does Odion have?"

"Odion, Odion... _uh..._ dirt-brown hair, brown eyes, likes to tell jokes... f-four stripes."

"Very good... and his brother Odongo?"

"... Dongo... medium brown hair, brown eyes, overprotective... six stripes."

"That's right..." Nuru, Naysun, and Shani were walking alongside each other on their way back to the colony. Hafiz, as promised, had gone on ahead to inform the colony about Shani and to say that she is a lost scout to fool the new bosses. Nuru and Naysun had been helping Shani remember all the names and attributes of the last colony members that were alive before the new bosses had arrived. Shani's head felt like it was going to explode with all the new information she had been fed over the course of the afternoon. "This one's a little harder... who last held the record for deepest hole in an hour?"

Shani rubbed her temples with both paws. Her head was pounding and she almost felt faint. "Record holder... it's a female... _Ji..._ no, Jima... Jimara?"

"It's _I-ma-ra,_ rogue!" Nuru growled in frustration and turned to Naysun, who was walking between him and Shani. "She's not ready for this."

Naysun furrowed her brow as she put an arm around Shani's shoulders to comfort her. "She was close, Nuru--"

"Close won't _cut it_ if we're gonna pull this off! If she slips like that in front of the bosses then we're _all_ dead." He softly grunted and muttered to himself, "If we want things back to normal at _least_ one of us has to stay alive..."

"Nuru, a slip like that could be expected from a scout missing for _three months._ She's been 'isolated' from _normal_ behavior and probably _forgot_ the proper names of everyone," Naysun hinted through clenched teeth. She then narrowed her eyes as she looked at her brother. "Besides, I'm more worried about _you_ slipping up at the moment."

The older meerkat gulped in surprise and wrinkled his nose. "What's _that_ suppose to mean?" he asked, offended.

"You have to remember that Shani is supposed to be a part of the colony. If you keep calling her rogue then we're all dead for sure. You have to start calling her by her name."

Nuru frowned as he leaned forward a bit to look at Shani, who was smiling sweetly at him and batting her eyes. "... My acting isn't good enough to pretend I like her, Naysun." Shani then frowned at his reply.

"Nuru, I'm not telling you to pretend you like her!" Naysun grunted as she stopped walking and threw her paws into the air. She gestured her paws to the two of them when they stopped to look at her. "You two could not like each other and the bosses won't suspect a thing! In fact, if there isn't just the right amount of meerkats not liking each other, _then_ things would be suspicious."

"... That's true. My dad and great-great-uncle don't like each other too much..." Shani blinked as she tapped a finger on her chin. Nuru grimaced lightly, wondering if she was really so naïve.

Naysun stepped up in front of Nuru, controlling herself not to grip onto his shoulders too hard. She managed, planted her paws onto his shoulders, and softened her voice. "Nuru, in front of everyone else, don't call her rogue. For the colony's sake, please call her by her name. We _need_ those directions..."

With a grimace Nuru looked down at Naysun's paws on his shoulders, and then he looked towards Shani who was shifting through the sand with her feet. After a few moments of silence, he heaved a sigh and shook his head. "This is a complete waste of time..." Naysun lightly giggled, kissed Nuru on the cheek, and then started to pull him along.

Shani looked up from her feet to the two, made a surprised noise, and hurried to catch up with them. The previous conversation was fairly tense, so she decided to change the subject. "OK, I-I think I've got everyone's names down and mostly what they look like, but what about Yasmin? You haven't told me about her yet. What's she like, should I like her, that kind of thing." Nuru and Naysun suddenly stopped. Naysun shivered a bit and Nuru tightened his grip on his staff, which shook some. Shani wrinkled her brow at that and tilted her head. "Why do you guys keep reacting like that? ... Did something happen to her?"

"... I'd better hurry on ahead and let everyone know we're about there... they'll want to greet you," Naysun said without looking back to her, and then ran ahead, leaving Shani and Nuru alone.

"Uh, Naysun--!"

"You don't have--" After a moment they both lowered their arms that were reaching out to Naysun, and stood in silence. Nuru seemed extra tense, as if he was afraid to make the slightest move. Of course he would never say he was 'afraid,' but he was not bothering to look at Shani. Shani, on the other hand, was staring at him, trying to figure out how he looked with his bangs cut or brushed back. It was bugging her that she couldn't see his eyes, and she wondered why not. She wanted to at least know a little more about him, but she was afraid to ask something personal. The moment was tense, but Shani tried to break the silence. "... _So..._ uh... what is it that you _do_ here?"

"... Do?" Nuru's ear twitched in Shani's direction, seeming to raise a brow, but his gaze remained straight forward.

Shani nervously rubbed her paws together. "Yeah, you know... do you dig a lot? Do you look out at space a lot? ... Are you a stylist?"

Nuru held back a small laugh which, to Shani, sounded like a grunt. He gathered himself quickly and cleared his throat. "... I used to dig, but because of this--" He tapped the round scar on his right ankle with his staff. "--I can't keep up with the other diggers, or most anything else. So I've pretty much been demoted to sentry duty."

"Sentry duty? What's that?"

"... That's the 'look out at space a lot' job. It's very boring. And I'm not a 'stylist...' mainly because the last time I groomed Naysun she wouldn't speak to me for a week. Before you even ask, _don't_ ask what happened." Shani was about to open her mouth to ask that, and then she pursed her lips and lightly blushed. "Naysun and Hafiz will have you most of the time, since _I_ can't really teach you anything."

"Are you sure you're not just afraid of being left alone with me for a certain amount of--?"

"_**I am not afraid of you!**_" Nuru's head snapped to glare at her, causing Shani to jump a step further away from him. "I'm only afraid of predators, and that's all _you_ need to know!"

She blinked, "But I thought the hyenas ran off for good after the caves blew up. You don't have to be--"

"I wasn't talking about hyenas, ro... pup."

Shani was about to question what he meant, but suddenly they both turned when they heard voices and then saw approaching meerkats. Nuru raised his brow and took a few steps further from Shani, who blinked at his actions. A few meerkats ran ahead and crowded around Shani, giving her some hugs and pats on the head. "Oh, Shani, it _is_ you!" a female smiled as she hugged Shani tight.

"I would've bet my last snail that we'd never see you again!" a male smirked as he joined in the hug.

"Just _look_ at her! She's so happy to be back she's speechless!"

"No... I can't breathe..." Shani managed to get out as her face slowly turned blue. She was released by the first pair of meerkats, only to be hugged by two more. She grunted and coughed once. "Have you guys been taking lessons from the python?"

"Sorry, Shani," a male meerkat who was hugging her whispered to her, "but one of our bosses is coming, and we have to act like we're happy to see you."

"Not only that," the second male hugging her whispered, "but we're helping you cover up your old scent... you still smell like other meerkats. Just go along with it."

Shani lightly frowned as their hugging tightened a bit, but she raised her arms to lightly hug them back. "It's... good to see you again..."

She raised her eyes to the rest of the colony running up to meet her, and saw Naysun in the front padding up to her. Naysun whispered into the huddled group, "It's time for the _real_ test..." She cleared her throat and turned around to face the group of meerkats, and noticed Nuru walking over to stand next to her. He seemed to shudder a bit as a tall, muscular meerkat with dark red hair stepped through the crowd. The first thing Shani noticed was that he had three claw marks scars on his right hip. The two meerkats hugging Shani released her and eased away, obviously nervous around this meerkat. Naysun swallowed and stood in front of Shani. "... Kano."

"... Naysun. Nuru." Nuru lightly grunted in reply, seeming to glower beneath his thick bangs. The meerkat called Kano cast his eyes down to Shani, who was cowering behind Naysun. "... You let a _rogue_ follow you home?" he growled softly and clenched his fists tightly, to which Shani cowered a bit more.

"Of course not! We wouldn't let a rogue, let alone a _female_ rogue, come anywhere near us if she was!"

"Easy, Kano... there's no reason to lose your cool..." Hafiz said calmly as he walked around Kano and eased Shani out from behind Naysun. He put an arm around her shoulders to try to calm her down. "This is Shani. She's one of the scouts we sent out a few months ago before you guys got here. Like most of our other scouts we figured she was long gone, but, here she is."

"We moved before she came back so it took her longer to find her way back," Nuru said calmly. "We found her near the galago's tree."

Kano inhaled deeply and bent down to take a good look at Shani's face. Shani held her breath as Kano looked at her, and took a few sniffs of her fur. All he could smell was dirt, a hint of galago, a little python, and the meerkats she was just hugged by. "She looks too young to be a scout. How old are you, eight months, nine?"

"... Five seasons," Shani managed to reply, gulping once. She felt Hafiz lightly squeeze her shoulder to imply to calm down. But it wasn't helping all that much.

"So you were a year old when you left..." Shani swallowed and nodded once in reply. "... So did you find any acceptable grounds for us to move to?"

"Uh, _well,_ I--"

"What's the rush, Kano?" Nuru asked in a low tone, looking away from the stronger meerkat. "We just moved here three months ago and the plantation is good. What do we need to move for when we're all _so_ comfortable?"

Kano turned to Nuru and softly growled, "If the pup has found better grounds we _will_ move." He sneered as he stepped up in front of Nuru, looming over him. "In case you've yet to get it through your head, Nuru, Kali and I are in charge of this colony now, and what we say goes." He eyed the scar on Nuru's ankle. "If you're worried you won't be able to keep up in the move because of that limp, I have no problems leaving you behind." Naysun shuddered at the thought of having another loved one leave her again and pressed a paw to her lips. Nuru's jaw clenched and he tightened his grip on his staff. He was about to reply when Shani spoke up.

"I... didn't find any good places... lot of poor vegetation and little infestation..." she cleared her throat to try to sound braver. "Places taken by other colonies..." All eyes were on her and there was a brief period of silence.

Kano breathed deeply for a few moments, observing her. Finally, he inhaled deeply and nodded. "Fine... so... Shani, was it? Who is your mate here?"

"I didn't have one when I left..." She turned her eyes to Naysun, as if asking if that was all right, to which Naysun nodded.

"... _Really._ Oh, Naysun, that reminds me..." Kano turned to Naysun, who had just finished shivering. "Kali was asking for you. He wants to see you later tonight."

"... Oh, really?" Naysun smiled politely, but she felt sick to her stomach. Nuru softly growled at the thought, and then he cleared his throat. "Um, well, uh... I'd like to help Shani settle back in first. And maybe help her build a new nest."

"All right... I'll give him the message." Kano's eyes rested on Shani for a moment, and he addressed the rest of the colony. "Now that we've all welcomed Shani home, let's get back to work! There are tunnels to complete!" He gave one last look to Shani, and then he turned around and walked off, followed by most of the colony.

Shani exhaled deeply and rubbed her forehead. "He was scary..."

"You should see his temper," Hafiz said softly as he rubbed Shani's shoulders. "But you did well. It worked."

"We'll start teaching you tomorrow morning... you've had a big day," Naysun smiled as she walked over to Shani and took her wrist. "C'mon, I'll help you get settled." Shani lightly smiled and nodded, and allowed Naysun to take her away, leaving Nuru and Hafiz alone.

As soon as they were far enough away Nuru threw his staff down and kicked the sand, to which Hafiz backed away. "_**Blast it,**_ Hafiz, I can't keep this up for another week! It's bad enough we have a _**rogue**_ staying with us, but if she finds out about Naysun and I--!"

"Nuru, _Nuru!_" Hafiz grabbed Nuru by the shoulders, to which Nuru jumped at. "Settle down, would ya!"

"Don't tell me to settle down! I've had this built up all day!" Suddenly Nuru was pushed onto his back and onto the sand, Hafiz pinning him down by his wrists and leaning his weight on him.

"_No,_ you'll settle down _now._" Nuru kept still, but panted heavily. Hafiz looked straight into the bangs where Nuru's eyes would be and tightened his grip on his wrists. "Look, if Shani wasn't here you'd be keeping it up anyway, but longer. They've been here three months and they don't suspect a thing." Nuru exhaled through his nose and turned his face away. "At least now we have a chance to set things right. If we don't tell Shani that's just three people who don't know instead of two. We all just gotta keep lying for a little longer."

Panting a bit, Nuru swallowed and asked, "What if Kano and Kali find out about her? If she gets killed we'll never find Timon. And if we move from the tunnels I won't be able to--"

"We won't let it happen... just one more week and things can get back to normal... we won't have to lie anymore." Hafiz slowly released Nuru and got back to his feet, dusting himself off. "Just six days, Nuru... in the meantime, try to get along with Shani. Find some common ground. ... Don't snap at her."

"... I make no promises. And we don't have _anything_ in common."

"Maybe not... but you both seem to have father issues." Nuru laid silent in the sand as Hafiz turned around and walked back towards the tunnel to finish up his digging duties.

_To be continued..._


	28. Good Night

_Geez,_ only 28 chapters and this story's been up for a whole year? I'm sorry I'm so lazy. _Eh-heh..._ I'll try to do better. Still working out who should go where and when. Anyway, in this chapter I decided to show what's going on with some of the other groups (Barika, the oasis, and Timon's group) as they're calling an end to the very long day. We'll get back to Shani in the next chapter, methinks. 

Chapter 28:

After a very long day for a few certain groups of animals the sun had begun to set. The nocturnal predators would be out and about soon whether the seekers wanted them to or not, so shelter had to be found _before_ then. Sabir lead Barika along, who was dragging her feet and looking down at them. It had been a long day and she knew they wouldn't find Shani. _You can't find anyone who's been eaten whole by a crocodile,_ she thought. Of course Sabir didn't know what her niece was thinking. All she was thinking about was how to tell her they were going to stop the search for the night.

"Aunt Sabir," Barika began with a yawn, "we've been looking around all afternoon... shouldn't we be heading back?"

Sabir looked towards the low sun with a grimace, and then she shook her head. "We won't make it back in time before sunset. I'm sorry, sweetie, but we're just going to have to stop for the night. Help me find a burrow." With that Sabir put her snout to the ground and started sniffing.

Barika cocked her head as she watched her aunt, curious. She wasn't sure what she would be sniffing for, but she followed her example and began sniffing. The two warthogs went in different directions as they sniffed and snorted, Barika unsure of what she smelled for. There were too many new smells for her and she didn't know what most of them were. Finally, she raised her head and looked to her aunt. "What am I smelling for, Aunt Sabir?"

"Aardvarks, of course."

"... What's an aardvark?"

Sabir paused for a moment, and then exhaled. "Of _course,_ she wouldn't know what an aardvark is..." she muttered to herself. She cleared her throat and spoke up, "They're an animal we usually steal our burrows from. If they abandon it we normally move in. So far I don't smell one, so while there's still light, we'll have to dig our own."

"How do we do that?" Barika asked as she padded over to Sabir, who was testing the softness of the dirt.

"Our snouts are like built-in shovels. Just get a good snoutful of earth _and..._" Sabir demonstrated, wedging her snout into the soft dirt and flinging a good amount forward, creating a small cavity. She repeated the process a few more times so that Barika could understand how it worked. After that, Barika knelt down and mimicked Sabir's movements, and smiled when she felt she got the hang of it. "This will take a while, but there's still enough light left we can make a small burrow."

"We sure dig differently than meerkats... Shani used--uh, _uses_ her arms and paws to dig..."

"I thought meerkats don't dig at the oasis...?" Sabir wrinkled her brow as she got a good snoutful of dirt, and then snorted it out.

Barika gulped, "Uh, _well,_ uh... they don't, but Shani dug to get at some bugs under a tree... and she started liking it. ... Aunt Sabir, I've got a confession to make--"

"I know, Rika..." Barika felt a knot in her stomach. How could Sabir possibly know about Shani? Did she lead her on with her attitude and wanting to go home? "... I know you don't remember where it was exactly where you and Shani were separated, right?" Barika blinked, surprised. She started to open her mouth with a guilty expression, but Sabir cut her off. "It's all right; all we have to do with ask around. If anything she went to Pride Rock where it's safe."

"Uh, _actually--_"

"You're _still_ afraid of heights?" Sabir sighed and shook her head. "And you don't want to go there. Look, it's a long walk to Pride Rock from here; we'll worry about going there later. Right now we need to dig, understand?" Barika whined softly, but nodded. And they stayed in silence for a time as the burrow was being built. The sun had almost completely set by the time they managed a large enough burrow for the both of them. Barika had to adjust to sleeping without a nest made from straw, but it was forgotten when Sabir curled up next to her, her eyes closed. "We'll start again in the morning. Good night, Rika."

"... Good night, Aunt Sabir." Barika sniffled lightly and began to drift to sleep, letting her aunt's breathing calm her nerves.

_Meanwhile..._

Around the time that Barika and Sabir were digging for their shelter, the oasis colony had uncovered a few more of Shani's tunnels, which were being filled in with dirt. Max wondered out loud if Shani was working alone or not, if she was the only young adult listening to her instincts. Others denied they had a hand in it, and Max decided that since Shani was Timon's daughter a little oddity was expected. For that remark he received a good smack over the head by Panya, who was then followed by Zuri. As night began to creep over the oasis, Bango and Morake were walking together on one of the oasis's paths.

"So what's the plan, Bango?" the cheetah asked with his tail swaying from side to side. "We go to bed early and wake up later tonight to make it to the Pride Lands before anyone notices we're gone?"

Bango grimaced slightly as he nodded, "That's _usually_ how we do it, yeah... but I thought we decided we were gonna wait."

"Isn't morning long enough for a wait?" Morake asked with a blink. "If we're gonna go help find the girls then--"

"I _do_ wanna go help find them, Morake, but if we suddenly disappear what will people think happened to us? Last time Kito and I left with no warning everyone thought we were kidnapped. When Shani and Barika up and left we thought they were kidnapped, and then we thought of the 'following instinct' idea. Will they think we were kidnapped if we suddenly disappear right after them?"

Morake stopped walking and sat down on the dirt, swishing his tail a bit more, and wrinkled his brow. "But if we _tell_ them that we're leaving they won't let us go. We kinda _have_ to disappear during the night so we _can_ go."

The warthog stopped and looked at him. "I just think we should wait another night... especially with Mom and Aunt Zuri sulking like this. They need the comfort."

Morake whined softly at that, and then he sighed with a nod. "It's gonna be hard for me to wait that much longer, but I'll try..." And then the two began to walk along again. "Comfort... do we get to sleep in their nests tonight or will there be enough room?"

"Nah, they're sleeping together tonight... which sounds really good right about now..."

"Yeah... what with all the worrying and boredom we went through today I'm drained. This spot over here looks nice." Morake padded over to a nice patch of grass with a mess of vines and leaves on top. He nested its softness and smiled as he climbed into it. "I'm worried about Kito, too, y'know..."

Bango climbed into the vine nest and rested up next to Morake. "Who wouldn't be worried about him with all that energy he's gotten lately? Just hope he's getting all the exercise he needs... and all the exercise he _doesn't_ need." He yawned and then smacked his lips. "G'night."

"G'night..." Soon the two were asleep, the cheetah purring softly as he rolled into his back and stretched out.

_Elsewhere..._

"_Aahhh..._ two mobs, two abandoned tunnels... and _no_ sign of Shani," Timon sighed as he looked out to the horizon from the top of Pumbaa's head. "And now we're losing light."

Sly was sitting on Pumbaa's back, looking from side to side to keep an eye on predators and places to sleep for the night. His fatigue was clear by his drooping eyes, since the group had been on the move almost non-stop since first thing this morning when it was realized that Shani and Barika were gone from the oasis. He exhaled and rubbed his eyes. "Does that mean we can get some sleep?"

Timon faked a laugh as he looked over his shoulder. "Who can think of sleep at a time like this? There's still plenty of light, and who knows, Shani may be playing in a field of fireflies!"

"_**Timon...**_" came a low grumble from both Sly and Pumbaa, who were both giving the red-headed meerkat a dry look.

"Aw, _**c'mon,**_ you two! You don't hear _Kito_ complaining!" He pointed down to where Kito was standing next to Pumbaa, only to notice he wasn't there. "Eh? Kito?" He looked back to Pumbaa's back legs and saw Kito laying on his back with his eyes closed and yawning. Timon grimaced at his son and then he sighed. "And that's the quietest he's been all day..."

"Maybe it's a sign," Sly remarked sarcastically, stifling his own yawn.

"... All right. You win. Park it here, Pumbaa; this is as safe a spot as any." Pumbaa smiled and sighed with a sense of satisfaction as he laid down, keeping his back level for the two meerkats on his back. The spot they stopped at was under a lush tree near some tall grass. Sly slid down Pumbaa's side and down to the ground. Once there he leaned back to release a few cricks from his spine. Timon walked down from Pumbaa's head onto his back, and then down to his rear and jumped off, nudging Kito with his foot. Kito stirred and opened his eye, frowning. He glanced up at Timon and arched a brow. "C'mon, your Uncle Pumbaa makes a better pillow than some rocks and dirt."

"Fine... but I'm _using_ the rocks and dirt as a mattress," Kito muttered as he rolled over onto his stomach and crawled over to Pumbaa's side, lying down. "I've slept on softer dirt out here before... a nicer spot north of here..."

"... _Saaaaaaay,_" a little light bulb lit up in Pumbaa's head, "you _have_ been out here before, haven't you, Kito?" Kito's eyes suddenly snapped open with a gulp.

Sly's eyebrows jumped and he stared at the back of Kito's head. "... You know, you're right, Pumbaa... otherwise, I'd still be in Yasmin's colony, _wouldn't_ I?" Kito's head shrunk between his shoulders a bit.

Timon stepped up to Kito, looming over him with his arms folded over his chest. Kito glanced up at the shadowy figure in the setting sunlight and nervously smiled at him with a few chuckles. Timon's brow furrowed a little deeper at that. "No wonder we lost Shani's trail... you already know more of what's out here than _she_ does." He looked to Sly while pointing at Kito. "He's the right age, but unlike the other pups he's _been_ out in the Pride Lands before! His senses for new things dulled out!"

"Aww, c'mon, Dad," Kito muttered as he sat up. "Sure, I don't have a clear point of view for what Shani's thinking or how she's looking at things, but I'm still good at finding people."

"Maybe," Timon arched a brow, "or did you come along for _another_ reason?"

Kito gulped again. Did Timon figure out that Kito was trying to prove he can be the next Great one in the family? No, he couldn't have. So what was he referring to? "Uh, well, I--"

"Ohh, lay off the pup, Timon," Pumbaa yawned as he looked to the meerkats. "It's late and we're all tired and grouchy."

"I am _not_ grouchy," Timon growled to the warthog. "And there's enough time to get the truth out of him." He turned back to Kito. "Maybe your sister had something to do with it, but you decided to tag along so you can lose that pent-up energy you've been having lately, didn't ya?"

"... _What?_" Kito wrinkled his nose at that.

"A nice, long trip to and through the Pride Lands for at least two or three days? Yeah, I can see how that can burn up some calories and some tension," Sly nodded as he leaned back against Pumbaa. "Plus, it keeps him from trying to kill Dajan."

"... All right, so maybe it's a _good_ thing he came along," Timon admitted with a snort, remembering how Dajan's parents were complaining to Timon about the state their son was in after their fight from last night. "At least with him with us we can keep an eye on him."

"... Uh, yeah! That's it!" Kito chirped, relieved that they hadn't figured out the real reason he had come along. "I wanted to get some exercise and I kept wearing out Bango and Morake, so I wasn't satisfied with them. So when we found out 'bout Shani, I knew you guys would be walking almost non-stop and I thought that'd be the perfect work-out! Plus I can help find Shani with my instincts!" It was a half-truth. He did want to get some more exercise, but it was an after-thought as the day progressed.

Timon waved a paw in front of his mouth and nodded, yawning. "All right, all right, I get the picture. We can't send you back alone anyway, so I guess we're stuck with ya." He yawned again and laid down next to Kito, giving his hair a light ruffle, to which Kito lightly smiled at. "Now that that's out of the way... good night." He laid his head down on his arm and used Pumbaa's stomach as a rest.

"Sleep tight," Kito muttered as he already began to fall back to sleep.

"Dream of bed bugs tonight," Pumbaa ended, and then fell right to sleep with a snore.

Sly smiled lightly at the three of them, and then looked towards the sun, seeming to be in thought. _I hope you found her, Yasmin... and you know to keep her safe. We'll be looking for you..._

_To be continued..._


	29. Answers To My Questions

Well, methinks we've covered the previous groups fairly well... time to get to Shani's first night underground, neh?

Chapter 29:

Finally, the sun had completely set. Many of the Pride Lands' inhabitants were already asleep or settling down. Others were just waking up and preparing for the first hunt of the night. Some were after large game; others were after small game, like meerkats. Of course, meerkats would normally take cover inside their tunnels before the carnivores could even decide what to order off the menu. Nuru had returned to the tunnels a while ago after a short sulk, still against the idea of continuing to lie about certain things to the bosses and to Shani. He walked along the tunnels, dragging his paw along the dirt walls and began to turn the corner. He heard a voice from behind the corner and held back, realizing whom it belonged to.

"... And this here is eastern wing of the tunnels," Hafiz motioned as he guided Shani along the tunnels halls. They had already seen the southern, western, and northern wings of the whole tunnel. To Shani they each looked the same, but had slightly different smells to them. Mainly the different smells were from the meerkats that slept inside the wings all the time, which were stronger than the meerkats just passing through. "I know it's a lot to take in, but if you have any problems finding your way around just ask one of us. We thought it'd be better if you learned the place before you relaxed. So, do you remember where the central meeting tunnel is?"

"... Central meeting tunnel..." Shani nervously rubbed her paws together and clicked her tongue. "That's where we meet during a predator attack or storm to see who's missing, right?" Hafiz stood in front of her with his paws on his hips, nodding. Shani looked back in the direction they had come from, thinking hard. "And we head down that way to the... _left,_ isn't it?"

"It's down that way to the _right,_" a voice from around the corner spoke up. Shani gulped and froze suddenly, afraid she may have already blown her cover. She relaxed when she realized it was Nuru who had turned the corner to meet with them. He shook his head lightly and clicked his tongue. "But then I guess it didn't matter much which way was which when you were born and raised in captivity, right?"

Shani blinked and wrinkled her eyebrows, once again confused. "... But I was born and raised in the oasis. I've never even heard of a place called--"

"No-no-no-no-no..." Nuru mumbled as he slapped a paw over his banged-covered eyes, mentally tired. "Hafiz, can you cover this one?"

Hafiz furrowed his brow as he folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot. "_You're_ the one who put a new word in her head."

"How was I supposed to know it was a new word?" Hafiz kept his pose and arched his brow, as if Nuru could not ask a sillier question. Shani blinked once and blushed lightly with a cough. Nuru grimaced and held a paw up to keep him silent. "Don't answer that." Hafiz gave Nuru an amused and satisfied smirk. Heaving a sigh, Nuru turned to Shani and held a finger up to her. "I'm only gonna tell you this once, so remember it, ro... _ahem..._ pup. Captivity is a nicer word for imprisonment, which pretty much means you're stuck in one place and not allowed to go anywhere else. In your case it applies to your life in the oasis. I felt it fit, so I used it."

"Captivity..." Shani looked down at her feet. Was the oasis _really_ like a prison? Timon never _did_ let her beyond Pride Rock at anytime, and he _did_ basically tell her to lock up the internal instincts she so wanted to follow. So was Nuru accurate? "... I guess it _does_ fit..."

Nuru released a large breath of air, relieved. "Good..." He turned to Nuru, furrowing his brow a bit, which was unseen through his bangs. "I thought Naysun was helping the pup settle in..."

"She was," Hafiz said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes, "but Kali found them in the south wing and decided to have a chat with her, so she had me take over. I haven't heard from her yet." Nuru shivered slightly with a soft growl. "My thoughts exactly. We gotta get rid of them before they try anything..."

Shani watched the two of them interact with her paws clasped behind her back. She wrinkled her brow a bit, confused. "If you want to get rid of them, then just have Yasmin kick 'em out. She's the leader, right?" She frowned as she watched Hafiz's face droop and Nuru's clenched paw shook violently with a grimace on his face. "... Why do you guys keep reacting like that? You never answered me before. What happened?"

"... It's _your_ turn, Hafiz. _You_ tell her," Nuru mumbled as he began to walk away, down the hallway Shani and Hafiz had just traveled from. "My stomach gets knots whenever..." He trailed off, and dragged his left paw along the wall as his other paw used the staff to walk along. Hafiz grimaced lightly, and then he exhaled.

"... Hafiz? _What happened_ to Yasmin?"

Hafiz looked to the young meerkat, who was looking back at him with pleading eyes. She had been asking about Yasmin all day and she wanted to know. If the bosses learned that she didn't know how a take-over worked, she would more than likely be discovered. She had to be told. Sighing, Hafiz replied, "... Kano killed her."

Shani's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and covered her mouth with her paws to suppress her gasps. She felt her eyes misting and a twisting feeling in her stomach. "_What?_ K... _Killed?_"

"You understand what the word means, don't you?" Hafiz asked, a little weary he would have to explain another word to her. He exhaled when Shani nodded in reply. "You see, Shani... sometimes rogues come along and challenge the leaders of groups so they can take over. Sometimes the rogues are peaceful and simply want a place to call home, like you did." Shani lightly smiled at that, but still felt a little sick to her stomach. "When his father was still alive Nuru was often scolded about striking first, but in this case, the rogue struck first. Kali had taken Nuru's staff and knocked him down with it in front of the rest of us. Kano heard one of us mention Yasmin's name, and he realized he had heard of us; the infamous _Makunga _Mob, as we have been dubbed, who was behind the mysterious _Nunda_ in the Outlands a year before, lead by a meerkat named Yasmin."

"_Makunga?_ That... means 'secrets,' doesn't it?" Shani asked with a bit of hesitation.

Hafiz nodded with a small smile. "We're a colony of many secrets, and we know well enough to keep them to ourselves." He looked down at his feet and tightly clenched his fists. "Kano demanded Yasmin to come forward, but we were doing our best to keep her hidden. Kali kept whacking Nuru with his staff every time Kano called for Yasmin to come forward. Finally Kano took the staff from Kali and drove it into Nuru's stomach hard. Nuru actually coughed blood from the shock. He was gonna do it again until Yasmin stepped forward, begging him not to hurt him. You see, we learned that day that Kano has a very short and violent temper and having to wait so long, he..." He released a shuddering sigh, unable to continue.

Shani cupped a paw over her mouth, afraid she might be ill. "He killed her?" She gulped after Hafiz slowly nodded.

"That was three months ago... Naysun still visits her grave and cries. She'll never admit it, because she hates to let others see her cry. Nuru... his stomach does things to him when he's reminded of what happened that day. He says it overpowers the pain in his heart. He tries to be strong for his sister so he would never cry in front of her either." Hafiz turned his eyes to Shani and put a paw on her shoulder. "Gruesome as it is, that's what happens out here. Rogues come and kill the leaders to become the new leaders." He rubbed her shoulder when he noticed some tears rolling down her cheeks. "But let's move on, OK?"

Shani sniffled and wiped her cheeks dry, and looked up at Hafiz as they walked along. "OK... what was she like?"

"Mm, a lot like Naysun, really, but she didn't have as much dirt in her fur. People would mistake them for each other often until they looked at the color of their eyes. Yasmin always loved flowers and would find new ways to wear them. She was also a little spoiled, but not so much as she was a few years back. Still... no one wanted to see her go, especially not Naysun."

Looking down at her feet, Shani looked like she was wrestling up the courage to ask a different question. "... Can I... ask you something... about Nuru?"

The older meerkat stiffened a bit at that. "... You can ask, but it all depends on the question if it gets answered."

"I'd ask him myself, but I'm afraid I'll offend him or something. He's already snapped at me more than once, and he never really looked at me. Not that I could _tell_ if he was looking directly at me with those bangs over his eyes. ... Why does he have those bangs so long? I've never seen that look on another meerkat before. It just... seems strange."

"Well..." Hafiz clicked his tongue before he continued. "You remember earlier today after we saved you from that python, Nuru said the eyes are a window into the soul?" Shani lightly wrinkled her brow, but nodded. "Nuru isn't twisted like that python, but he doesn't want anyone to see how dark his soul has gotten, especially not Naysun. He's been growing it out ever since his father died last year. And since Yasmin died... well, he only shows his softer side to his sister."

"And his limp? That scar on his right ankle?"

"Also from last year, from the massacre. We used the _Nunda's_ roar to scare off predators, but some hyenas looking for Timon got brave and attacked. One of 'em snatched Nuru by the ankle and lifted him into the air. Yasmin spooked the hyena with one of the snail shells with water to make a bellowing noise behind him, and Nuru was able to escape with just a lame foot. It doesn't bother him as much as other things."

The younger meerkat tilted her head. "Other things?"

"... That's enough for now, Shani," he smiled to her and patted her on the shoulder. "You've had a very busy day and I'm sure you're just itching to sleep."

Shani shrugged, "Well, not _itching,_ but I guess catching some Z's wouldn't be so bad. So, I'll just go topside and make a nice little hammock in the tree and--" She began to walk away towards the nearest tunnel exit when Hafiz grabbed her arm to keep her put.

"I thought you understood, Shani... we don't go topside after dark unless it's _extremely_ necessary. There are carnivores out there who wouldn't mind a little meerkat tar-tar and they can climb trees."

"The lions wouldn't hurt me," Shani said with a furrowed brow, thinking carnivores only concerned lions or hyenas, and she knew hyenas were no longer around. "You mean you guys sleep _underground?_ But I can't see the fireflies down here..."

"It's too dangerous up there at night... everything's hungry. Now... I'm sure Naysun would volunteer you sleeping with her tonight, but then Nuru wouldn't get a wink of sleep, so you'll be bunking with me tonight, OK?"

Shani frowned, "No, it's not OK... but OK..." She continued to frown as Hafiz led her along the east wing towards the nest chambers. Looking up at the stars before falling asleep is one of Shani's favorite things to do... and sleeping under them for that matter. With so many new smells around her it may be hard for her to fall asleep right away. But she decided she could probably overcome it all to learn to be a real meerkat. You have to give up something to gain something, right?

_To be continued..._


	30. Late Night Information

Wow, that was probably a record. I post my newest chapter on the 15th and on the 22nd it's on the very bottom of the page. Normally I think it'd take closer to two or three weeks before that happens. Ah, well, guess everyone else had their creative juices flowing, eh? Let's see if I can't get back into things meself. This should hopefully be an amusing chapter. I wrote this whole chapter over the course of today (the 23rd). Hope y'all like. Enjoy! 

Chapter 30:

Dreaming tends to keep the mind occupied while it sleeps, which makes the night seem like it only lasts an hour or so. But in fact the night lasts much longer than that, and not everyone sleeps at night. The sun would be up in a few hours and Timon had moved from Pumbaa's side to his stomach in his sleep. Sly remained by Pumbaa's side to use him as a pillow, and then he turned on his side with a sleepy grumble. Kito had slept on his back with his paws propped up behind his head as a pillow, his left leg twitching. His ears twitched slightly when he heard some noise above them, and a cricking sound from the tree they were sleeping under.

"_Mmph..._ Uncle Pumbaa, quit moving," Kito grumbled as he covered his ears. "That cricking woke me up..." Pumbaa only snored in reply, remaining asleep. Kito turned his eyes to the warthog and furrowed his brow as he sat up and stretched, releasing several of his _own_ cricks. Releasing a shudder at that, he hopped to his feet and walked up to his uncle, the warthog, and reached to open one of his eyelids, but instead a red berry fell from the tree and landed square on top of his head. "_Gak!_" Juices from the berry leaked all over his head and shoulders.

The sudden outburst from the younger meerkat stirred the rest of his family from their slumber. Pumbaa grunted and snorted as he lifted his head up and shook it quickly to be rid of the dream he was still grasping to. Sly jumped to his feet with a start, paws up to defend himself. When he noticed Kito merely had a berry on his head, he relaxed and put a paw on his hip with a grimace. Timon yawned deeply as he pushed himself up to sit and rubbed his eye. "Kito, it's too early to pick fights..."

"Don't tell _me,_ Dad!" Kito growled as he pawed the remains of the sticky berry from his head and hair. "The tree was the one who dropped food on me!" He pointed upwards, to which the warthog and meerkat brothers looked.

"But berries don't grow on trees..." Pumbaa began, and then he paused when he saw movement above them. Timon jumped off of the warthog's stomach so that Pumbaa could roll over and onto his hooves. They saw another berry drop, but this time they managed to avoid wearing it. "There's someone up there..."

From the leafy branch of the tree appeared a pair of large amber eyes, and the head they belonged to poked through. "Oh, I'm _terribly_ sorry! I didn't mean to drop my dinner on you. Well, not that everyone _intentionally_ drops food on other animals it seemed right to apologize anyway. Although maybe if they're mischievous or just plain mean they might throw food at you... among _other_ things. _Hee-hee-hee..._" Komba the galago jumped over onto the neighboring branch, cradling an armful of red berries against her chest. Now that she was fully awake it seemed her chattering speed had gotten faster. "Would you like me to make it up to you? Do you like berries, I've got plenty--OK, not _plenty_-plenty but I could share with you and finish up with some insects or something!" She smiled as she began to climb down the tree.

The group of animals below only stared up at her, lost in her speech. "Did anyone catch any of that?" Timon asked with a puzzled expression. Kito and Pumbaa shook their heads quickly in reply.

"I only caught bits and pieces," Sly replied as he rubbed his temple. "Something about being sorry about dropping food on us and wanting to share."

"This thing talks almost as fast as Morake runs..." Kito blinked with amazement as he watched the small creature climbing down the tree. "What _is_ it?"

"She's a galago, or better known as a bush baby. They're naturally this chatty which makes it harder to understand 'em."

Kito watched as the odd creature hopped over to them, offering her berries to Kito first. "Uh, no thanks, I'm not hungry yet," he politely smiled and he pushed the paw with the berry away. Komba smiled and nodded, and then she offered to Pumbaa and Timon, who also turned her down. As she was offering to Sly, an idea popped into Kito's head. "Hey, maybe we should ask _her_ about the girls."

"Normally I would, Kito," Sly began as he took a berry from Komba to be polite, "but galagos sleep during the day, and I doubt she's seen a meerkat and a warthog together at _anytime_ tonight."

Komba sat down as she began to nibble on one of her many berries, and then her large bat-like ears perked upwards. "Mm? A meerkat and a warthog _together?_ It's really weird if there are meerkats and warthogs together, so I think I would remember if I saw 'em in the _same_ spot at the _same_ time. Well, if I was more asleep than I was awake then that's different. The only animals I've seen during the day today were meerkats, and I didn't see a single warthog, nope! Well, aside from _you_ guys, that is." She swallowed her berry and licked her lips. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Komba."

"Uhhh... _OK?_" Pumbaa blinked, confused at the rambling chattering of the odd little creature. "Did you have a little too much coffee today?"

"Oh, I don't drink coffee, not that I hadn't heard goods things, but I've heard bad things, too, like they make you super hyper and you move faster and you stay awake all day, and who would want _that?_ Not me, nope! The sun hurts my eyes too much 'cuz it's so bright and I just wanna sleep all day and be active all night! Although I could've used it earlier when some weird meerkat girl wondered into my tree and didn't even know _how_ to she up there until a meerkat named Nuru told me he put her in there, but they kept me up and I was a little extra tired when I woke up this evening..." Komba continued to rattle on as she decided to forget about the berries and snatch some insects right out of the air.

Sly shook his head as he was listening to the galago's endless rambles, but some key words caught his ear, causing his eyes to widen. "A weird meerkat girl?" A smile crept onto his face. "_**Nuru?**_" When he asked that Komba was continuing to chatter and she acted as though she didn't hear him. "Hey--wai--hold on--would you--**_Komba--?_**" Komba was too preoccupied to hear him trying to get through, and Sly grunted in frustration.

"Nuru? She couldn't mean Yasmin's _brother_ Nuru, could she?" Kito asked as he stuck a finger in his ear. Komba's voice was beginning to get to him.

"A weird meerkat girl? What are the odds that that's Shani?" Pumbaa asked as he shook his head to clear it.

Timon furrowed his brow when he heard Nuru's name as well as the probability that Shani could have met with this babbling creature, and then he walked right up to Komba and tried to get her attention. Komba had finished catching a fly that was buzzing around and she was chewing on that when Timon tapped her on the shoulder. She looked back at him and smiled cheerfully. "I'm sorry, did you want this fly? I could get you another one if you'd like, or if you don't want that I could get you a firefly or a dragonfly or a horsefly or a--"

"_**JUST SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE, WOULD YA!**_" Timon lost his patience and yelled directly at her, surprising Komba enough to curl herself up into a ball in defense. Seeing this, Timon slapped a paw over his eyes and sighed. Pumbaa furrowed his brow at Timon and shook his head disapprovingly at him, making "tsk tsk tsk" sounds. "All right, all right, I _know_ I lost my temper and I'm sorry. What I meant to say was could ya put spaces between your words so we can understand what you're talking about? And maybe a _little_ _less_ detailed?"

Komba turned her head to look at Timon, and then she uncurled herself and let off a shudder. "I'll try, but talking slower is irritating--well, not _terribly_ irritating, but--" She caught herself and cleared her throat. "Sorry... so what do you want to know? Is it about that meerkat and warthog you're looking for?"

The group circled around Komba, and Pumbaa knelt down and let his face be fairly leveled with the small galago. "Yeah... you said something about a female meerkat in your tree... was she blonde with brown eyes and five stripes on her back?" Sly asked as he looked down to Komba.

"And did she tell you what her name was?" Kito added quickly.

Komba put a paw to her chin, and gave her long tail a light swish. "Well, no, she _didn't_ tell me what her name was, actually. And she _may_ have been blonde with brown eyes, but I was so tired I couldn't tell, and we were both in my tree and it was fairly dark in there. And I never got a good look at her back to see how many stripes there were. But she said she was from some oasis and she looking for a meerkat colony."

"That _was_ Shani, it _**had**_ to have been!" Timon smiled as he hugged Pumbaa's snout tightly. "We're on the right track, Pumbaa! We're gonna find our girls for sure!"

"B-But what about Barika?" Pumbaa asked with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. A look of realization suddenly crossed Timon's face as he released the snout from his arms. "I-I-If Komba didn't meet her _with_ Shani, then where _is_ she?"

The galago's large ears twitched. "Barika? That sounds familiar..." All eyes turned back to her, listening intently. After a moment of thinking, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right... actually, that meerkat mentioned her briefly after she woke me up... and she was crying about it. I don't know what happened, but I didn't press it, 'cuz we were both wondering how she got up in my tree in the first place."

"They must've gotten separated somewhere," Kito gulped as he bit down on his index finger. Pumbaa whimpered as he stood and began to pace frantically, muttering many things that could have happened to his daughter. "_Great, _how are we suppose to find 'em if they split up? And _why_ did they split up?"

"At least right now we know Shani's all right..." Timon began, and then quickly turned to face Komba with a straight face. "She _is_ all right, isn't she?"

Komba scratched her ear with her back foot as she thought about that question carefully. "Well, she was all right when I sent her to find that meerkat colony, though I didn't tell her where it was because _I_ don't know myself."

"_**A lot of good that does!**_" Timon growled, causing Komba to cower from him. "And what if this colony isn't safe for her? Female rogues are threatening so if she finds them _before_ we--!" He stopped when Sly put a paw on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

"Easy, Timon, yelling at her won't get us anywhere," he said calmly, and then he turned to the galago. "Komba, this is important... do you _know_ the meerkats in that colony you sent her to?"

"Oh, yes, of course I do!" Komba chirped. "Well, I've only actually met maybe three or four of the members, but they're all right. They wake me up during the day on occasion, but they're friendly enough most of the time. Although Nuru seems to have gotten a little more aggressive lately and--"

"So you _did_ say Nuru earlier!" Sly smiled. "Does he have dark brown bangs covering his eyes, a walking staff, and two sisters named Yasmin and Naysun?"

"...Yes, actually, but I've never met nor heard him mention anything about Yasmin, but then again we don't meet with each other often enough or long enough to discuss that." Komba blinked a few times when Sly suddenly laughed and slapped both of Timon's paws with his own in triumph. If Shani was safe _anywhere_ it was within Yasmin's colony. "See, I sent her there 'cuz I figured she'd be all right, since Nuru was the one who put her in my tree in the first place. I don't know if she made it there yet or not, though, since I didn't know which way he went, but his colony has to be somewhere nearby because Nuru can't travel too far with that limp of his."

Sly's ears twitched as he listened to Komba explain to them her reasoning, and then he blinked and wrinkled his brow. "A limp? Nuru didn't have a--" Sly suddenly remembered Nuru's bleeding right ankle the day of the massacre from Bintaka's pack and he was walking with a limp. But to him it didn't seem like a bad enough injury to make him lame. But then again Sly _did_ have other things on his mind those next two days. "So we know Shani's looking for this colony, if she hasn't found it already..."

"Then what are we gonna do about Barika?" Pumbaa whimpered as he finally got tired of pacing and muttering. "She's never been in the Pride Lands before, let alone being alone, and she's probably lost and scared!"

Kito walked over to his uncle Pumbaa and pulled his face down to his level. "Easy, Uncle Pumbaa... Maybe since Shani's looking for a colony, Barika decided to look for a _sounder._ Maybe she has some warthog instincts dying to get out and she wants some other warthogs to teach her about 'em, right?"

"M-Maybe... but how long until we go and look for her after we've looked for _Shani?_"

Timon looked to Pumbaa, rubbing his chin. He had been a little selfish lately, only thinking of his own daughter instead of Pumbaa's. So with a snap of his fingers Timon jumped up onto Pumbaa's snout with a smile. "Jina's family grazes somewhere around here, right?" With a wrinkled brow the warthog nodded. "Swell! We don't know where Yasmin's colony is exactly, so we'll have to ask around. Why not start with a warthog sounder we're familiar with who may have _some_ idea of where Barika may have gone, too? Who knows? Maybe she's already _with_ 'em!"

Pumbaa smiled with a sniffle and rubbed this snout with the back of his hoof. "OK. Should we restart the search now?"

"I vote going back to sleep," Sly stepped up to Pumbaa with his arms folded in front of his chest. "We've got an easy three hours left and we'll need all the energy we can get if we're going to be running around looking for sounders and mobs all day."

Komba hopped up next to Sly with her berries clutched to her chest. "Well, I guess if I'll leave you guys to your sleeping and I'll be going to bed soon myself, so don't be surprised if you happen to find my tree that I'll be a little groggy and grouchy, but I'll try my best to be considerate to day-time animals--well, not _all_ daytime animals if they're rude and inconsiderate." The galago had returned to her normal speaking speed as she began to jump up onto the tree and climb up the trunk.

"Hey, Komba," Timon called up to her before she was high enough, "where _is_ your tree anyway?"

"It's to the east. It's about four feet around, fifteen feet high with a knothole about halfway up. It shouldn't be too hard to find but if you can't you can always follow my scent! Have a good night and good luck!" With that Komba jumped over to the next tree and landed on the branch, making it shake under her weight. She jumped to the next branch, and the next, until she was out of sight.

"Well," Pumbaa said with a yawn as he rolled onto his back, "I'm kinda glad she came along when she did..."

"Yeah," Timon agreed as he climbed onto Pumbaa's stomach, feeling the softness of it. "It's the best bit of information we've gotten ever since we left home."

Sly looked deep in thought as he walked over and sat down next to Pumbaa, stroking his chin. "But I wonder..." All eyes turned to look at the dark haired meerkat. "... Why did Nuru put her in Komba's tree to begin with? If Shani didn't know why she was in the tree, she must've been unconscious at the time. But _why?_" Timon wrinkled his brow at his younger brother's reasoning. "And if Nuru _does_ have a lame foot, how was he able to climb all the way up to the knothole that's _seven feet high_ by himself?" Sly lightly sneered as he felt sick to his stomach as he asked, "And if Komba knows about Naysun, why doesn't she know _anything_ about Yasmin?"

"... Well, Yasmin's colony _does_ tend to keep a lot of secrets, Sly," Timon said as he lay down on Pumbaa's stomach. "Maybe they have good reasons for doing whatever it is they're doing. Maybe Nuru used a vine to climb up to the tree. Who knows? We'll worry about it when it's time to wake up."

"Yeah... _boy,_ I don't know how I'll ever get back to--" Pumbaa began, and then his head dropped down and he instantly began to snore. Timon grinned at that and laid back, falling asleep himself.

Kito soon fell asleep himself, using his arms as his pillow and Pumbaa and Sly for warmth. Sly just couldn't forget the troubling thoughts buzzing around in his head. It's true his former colony _did_ keep many secrets, but this was the first time he didn't know any of the secrets. Did something happen within the colony? Did a rogue threaten them? Was Yasmin--? No, she couldn't have been. If she was, then Nuru may have already been... Trying to cast those thoughts aside, Sly finally fell back to sleep, anxious to seek the answers.

_To be continued..._


	31. Nuru's Lesson

Well, to make up for the lack of time I've been taking to upload chapters, this one will be a nice long one and focuses on Shani and Nuru. A nice secret is gonna be revealed by the end of this chapter, and I hope I did well enough to keep it a secret ever since I introduced these characters. No skipping to the end of the chapter, now! Next chapter (which I've yet to start) will be in production really soon, since I've been wanting to write it for a while. Hope to hear ya opinions in reviews, and enjoy! 

Chapter 31:

"... What do you _mean_ _**I **_have to take care of her this morning?" Nuru stood before Naysun and Hafiz, who had found Nuru walking in an empty hallway the next morning. It was the crack of dawn and the _Makunga_ colony had just begun to wake up and get to work, and it was time to decide who would show Shani how meerkats survive for the first part of the day. Much to Nuru's disapproval, he had just been informed that he would be the first. "I thought we agreed that you two would be the ones to deal with the rogue while she's here! I'm not on sentry duty today, so I can't teach her that!"

"Believe me, that was our intention, Nuru," Hafiz began as he furrowed his brow, "but the bosses have other plans for Naysun and I this morning."

Naysun shivered slightly as she pushed her bangs back. "Kali decided he wanted to be supervising the digging crew I'll be working in today, and Kano's supervising Hafiz's crew. If we spent the all our time with Shani while we're suppose to be digging separately they'll get suspicious."

"And as you've mentioned earlier, _you_ have the day off from sentry duty, plus you won't have the bosses breathing down your neck. If Shani's safe anywhere this morning while she's _still_ able to learn something, it's with you."

Nuru scoffed, "If I'm not working, _what_ am I suppose to be teaching her? I haven't dug a tunnel in four years, so--" He paused when Naysun took hold of his left paw in-between both of her paws, and softly exhaled.

Naysun looked at her older brother with pleading eyes. "I know you don't want to be alone with Shani, Nuru, but I'm afraid if we don't teach her something first thing she won't tell us where we can get directions to the oasis. We _need_ Timon."

Nuru growled softly and gently pulled his paw away from Naysun's, looking directly at her. "Then why not ask someone else who _isn't_ working this morning? I'm _not_ the only meerkat here, you know..."

A loud gulp from Hafiz caused the siblings to turn to him, who was rubbing the back of his neck and smiling an uneasy smile. "Uh... _actually,_ Nuru..." He gulped again when Nuru stepped up to him, leaning his face close to his. "... While you and Naysun were 're-educating' the colony's history to Shani, I kinda promised the others that we would be the only ones taking care of her." He gulped when Nuru's upper lip curled into a snarl, and he could feel him glaring even through his thick bangs covering his eyes. "It seemed like the right thing to do, seeing as we're the ones who found her in the first place..."

"_Besides,_ Nuru," Naysun added, folding her arms over her chest as she stared at the back of her brother's head, "it'll give you a chance to get to know each other. If you could get along with her--as in do _not_ snap at her when she makes some kind of naïve comment--then I'd be happy. You'll only have her for the morning. Come afternoon one of us will take over."

"But if we're the _only_ ones wasting our time on her," Nuru's paw gripped onto his walking staff tightly, "that means I'll be all alone with her... and if she spends too much time with me, she'll discover that--"

"Would it be so bad if she knew?" Hafiz interrupted, putting a paw on Nuru's shoulder. His brow furrowed a touch as he stared at the thick bangs, as if he could see straight through them. "You're stressing out because you're afraid she'll find out. If you tell her, you won't have to pretend in front of her." Nuru softly grunted and clenched his jaw. Hafiz's eyes shifted to Naysun, keeping his expression. "She should know anyway, _shouldn't_ she? If she's _supposed_ to be a part of our colony, she should know the truth. ... And I mean the _whole_ truth, Naysun." A shiver was Naysun's reply as she held herself. "We can't continue keeping secrets from her."

"But secrets keep us alive..." Naysun whispered, hanging her head. Nuru exhaled heavily and nodded.

"So does trust within the colony." Both Nuru and Naysun fell silent. Hafiz stared at the two of them, and then he softly exhaled. "Look, we'll discuss this later. Naysun, don't do anything to attract Kali's attention. Nuru, take Shani outside and show her how we hunt for food. You can handle that, right?"

Nuru softly growled, and then he sighed, giving up. There didn't seem to be a way to talk his way out. "Fine, I give up... but when the sun is overhead, I expect one of you two to get her away from me. Speaking of which, where _is_ she anyway, outside?"

"Actually, no," Hafiz said with a wrinkled brow. "She's still in my nest chamber, asleep. I tried to wake her up, but she just turned over. I know she's exhausted from yesterday, but I thought she'd at _least_ wake up by now."

"Oasis meerkats don't have work schedules, so there wouldn't be a reason to wake up this early..." Naysun said as she began to walk away. She looked over her shoulder to Nuru. "Remember, Nuru, try to get along with her." She turned the corner before Nuru could meet her with a reply.

Hafiz lightly smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "Shani's actually pretty sweet. You might actually like her if you give her a chance." With that he walked off in the other direction, leaving Nuru alone.

"... _Feh._ 'Try to get along with her,'" Nuru scoffed as he walked along the hallway, letting his left paw drag along the wall. "That's like telling me to eat grass..." Muttering to himself, Nuru reached Hafiz's nest, and sure enough, Shani was still lying inside, sound asleep. She was covered with several dead leaves to keep her warm, but she shivered slightly and turned over, facing Nuru. Nuru softly snorted and stepped inside, looking at her. He still disliked the idea of spending the morning with her, but he was stuck. No one else was going to bother with her, and he wanted the week to be over with. He shook his head briefly and turned to the wall. Leaning against the wall was a broken shell, obviously from when the hyenas destroyed the _Nunda_ near their home in the Outlands. Nuru lightly smirked as he picked it up and closed his lips around the small end, and blew loudly.

The loud bellowing in the very small space caused Shani to jump to her feet with a scream, and then she tripped as she began to run out of the nest, and landed right at Nuru's feet. She panted heavily as she began to recover from the shock and looked up at him with a furrowed brow. "I didn't ask for a wake-up call..."

"You're the last one up; I consider _that_ enough sleeping in," Nuru replied as he tossed the shell aside, and then stuck a finger into each of his ears to clean them.

"But it's still so dark..." Shani yawned as she sat up and rubbed her drooping eyes. She looked around and frowned, remembering where she was. "Oh... right... we're underground. But it still feels early."

"It's after dawn... everyone else is awake and working," Nuru replied with his arms folded over his chest. "Unfortunately Hafiz and Naysun are busy this morning, so we're stuck with each other until this afternoon." Shani blinked a few times, then lightly groaned at this bit of news so early in the morning. "My thoughts exactly... come on. Figure you'll starve out here if I don't teach you how to get food..." He began to walk out, so Shani stood, dusted herself off, and followed him. With that limp it wasn't very hard to catch up to him.

Once they had reached the surface, Shani smiled as the morning sun bathed her in warm sunlight, and she rubbed it into her fur. Nuru turned around a few times, sniffing several times. He cupped a paw to his ear to listen for anything unusual. So far, nothing. He shook his head lightly and shivered a bit. Shani noticed and tilted her head slightly. "Why are you sniffing so much? If you don't mind my asking...?" Shani was already afraid she might have offended him. Nearly every question she asked him would lead to him yelling at her.

Instead, Nuru shrugged and looked ahead. "Out here, you can't survive on instinct alone, ro... _ahem,_ pup. Out here you have to trust your senses as well as your instincts. Above all, seeing, smelling, and hearing. In a meerkat community like this one you need your senses and instincts to help each other to survive." He nodded his head straight ahead, telling Shani to start walking with him. "I suppose you can count this as a lesson..."

"Uh... yeah, sure..." Shani lightly blinked as she thought silently to herself. "But... not _all_ meerkats can hear." Nuru's brows rose and he looked at her, mildly surprised that she actually knew that. He thought her so naïve that if a young meerkat couldn't have a limp, then _all_ meerkats could hear. "I've never met him myself, but there used to be a meerkat in my mother's colony who was born--oh, what's that word...?"

"Deaf?"

Shani smiled and nodded. "_That's_ it! They used some kind of paw gestures to communicate with him. I think my mother called it sign language or something..." She softly giggled, "My father had trouble saying 'love' up until last year, so Sly showed him how to say it with his paws."

Nuru stopped in his tracks and lightly furrowed his brow. "... So, is Sly living in Timon's colony now? He said he was looking to find somewhere where he belonged..."

"Yeah... but you sound kinda bitter..."

"Yasmin and Naysun... they both loved Sly. It broke Yasmin's heart to have him leave her alone to lead the colony, and Naysun hated to have another loved one leave her. She'll never admit it, but it made her cry... and I hate him for that." He looked directly at Shani, his brow deeply furrowed. "He was rogue, but I accepted him... and he broke my sisters' hearts."

Shani's eyes widened. "_Sisters?_ Yasmin was your--?" She grunted when Nuru suddenly slapped his paw over Shani's mouth to silence her.

"_Not another word!_" Nuru whispered a hiss through tightly clenched teeth. "The bosses don't know and if they _did_ Naysun and I would _both_ be dead!" Shani's eyes widened more, shocked. Nuru growled softly and looked away from her. "Hafiz told you about what happened that day, right?" Shani wrinkled her brow and nodded, Nuru's paw still covering her mouth. "They only knew about Yasmin, nothing about her having a brother or sister, and if they did we wouldn't still be here. We're waiting for the right time to challenge them to get the colony back... but we need Timon's help planning it out." He removed his paw from Shani's mouth and exhaled deeply. "Now that you know I _expect_ you to keep it quiet... pretend we didn't have this talk and we'll go back to the lesson."

"... Ahh... a-all right..." Shani cleared her throat as they began to walk forward again. "We were talking about senses and deaf meerkats..."

Nuru nodded a few times as he remembered. "Ahh, right. Unfortunately for those poor meerkats, while all are born with the Inner Voice, not all are born with all their natural senses. However, there are ways to bend the rules to let them continue working and living in the colony. A deaf meerkat could still serve as a sentry or dig tunnels with supervision. However, some born deaf are also born mute, so if he is a sentry he would need a shell to blow to alarm everyone."

"Mute?" Shani wrinkled her brow. "What does 'mute' mean?"

Nuru rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Why am I _not_ surprised? ... Mute means the animal can't speak. That's been known to happen as well, whether they were born that way or they were made that way."

Shani softly gasped, surprised. "You can be _made_ mute?"

"Yes... you can be made deaf or blind as well." Before Shani could even get her next question out, Nuru held a finger up to her to silence her. "Blind refers to someone who can't see. At all. All they can see is total darkness, and that's the worst thing you can be in a mob." Nuru stopped next to a dying bush, and held his arm out to keep Shani from continuing. "Make a note: meerkats out here usually dig under roots, especially old roots for bugs. Sometimes we eat tubers, which are pretty much like roots, lizards, scorpions, and bird eggs." He tapped some of the thin roots with his staff, and then nodded his head to them. "Dig in."

"Don't mind if I do..." Shani smiled as she knelt down and started to paw at the dirt. "So, how are meerkats made deaf or blind or mute?"

Nuru stood at attention, turning around a few times to serve as a watch for Shani as she ate, sniffing and listening. The colony was ten minutes away, so if there was trouble, they'd be on their own. "Well, a loud enough noise can deafen anyone, like that wake-up call I gave you earlier." He smirked slightly when he heard Shani grumble. "When two animals fight and one bites down on your throat, you can eat die of suffocation or damage your throat enough to keep you living, but prevent you from speaking." Shani shivered at that as she went down further. "My thoughts exactly. And to blind... well, do you want temporary or permanent?"

"Umm... permanent," Shani replied as she found the first bug of the morning and began to munch on it.

"Charming... I actually _knew_ a meerkat who was blinded... within our own colony." Nuru leaned his weight on his staff as he recalled, feeling a little sick. "He was on sentry duty... alone. It was nearly sun down and it was time to retire. Two rogue meerkats had appeared out of no where and attacked him. The meerkat yelled for help, but the rogues kept kicking and scratching him. When help finally arrived, one of the rogues swiped his claws _right across_ his eyes." He inhaled deeply with a shudder. "The rogues were chased off, but the damage was already done. Two months later the wounds had already healed, but he still couldn't see... so Khairi, our previous leader, decided since he couldn't see where he was digging, _nor_ could he see if any predators or rogues were approaching on sentry duty, to cast him out of the colony."

Munching on a few bugs, Shani raised her head out of the hole she had dug and looked at Nuru with sad eyes. Swallowing, she said, "That's so cruel..."

"A blind meerkat can't do _anything_ to help the colony survive..." Nuru returned with a soft snarl, bitter at the memory. "And our survival depends on each other..."

Shani tilted her head as she stood and stepped up to Nuru. She was starting to understand him a little better... as he barely talked as much as he did... and to _her,_ even! She began to reach out to him, but stopped herself. _He wouldn't want me to touch him,_ she decided. "So," she said instead, "that's why you don't like rogues?"

"I've always hated rogues," Nuru said, looking away from her. "But that day I began to hate them more... and even more after what they did to Yasmin..."

Shani frowned a little bit and interlocked her fingers together as she looked at his face. "But I'm _not_ one of the rogues who blinded your friend... and I'm _not_ one of the bosses who killed Yasmin... so why do you treat me like I did?"

Nuru's eyes widened slightly, a touch surprised by her question. It's true she never showed aggression like most rogues, except when he struck a nerve about asking if her parents had taught her meerkat habits she was supposed to have learned by now. But still... "You want into my colony..."

"_So?_ I'm not trying to force my way in like those two big... _big..._ _**dumb hyenas!**_ And _that_ was before I found out about Yasmin. If I had just told her whom my parents were, then--" She paused when Nuru suddenly stiffened, and then she froze in fear when she heard a familiar hissing sound. "... N... N... Nuru?"

"_Shh..._" Nuru gripped onto his staff, his head jerking from the left to the right and back again. Shani, recognizing that sound, hurried over to Nuru and stood behind him, shivering with fright. "Where _is_ it...?" Nuru asked himself in a whisper.

"I-It's that 'snake,' isn't it? He's coming back to get us!" Shani whimpered as she looked around frantically.

"I'm not sure... I only got a faint scent of him before. Besides, he's not the only snake out here." Nuru sniffed the air several times as Shani cowered behind him. There was defiantly something nearby, but _where?_ "Just remember not to look directly into his eyes..."

A sudden shift in the dirt behind them caused both Nuru and Shani to spin around... and lock eyes with a much different snake. Shani gasped when she found her eyes glued to the hooded snake, watching as its head swayed from side to side, its forked tongue flicking in and out of its mouth. Nuru stood in front of her, staring at the cobra with his teeth clenched and his right paw tightly gripping onto his staff. The cobra spared no words as he crudely smiled and raised his head high above them. Shani's eyes widened, but that was all she could do. Her voice was too afraid to speak. Nuru took several deep breathes, as if preparing for his final breath. But he decided, that would _not_ be today.

"Get ready to run..." he whispered to Shani. Shani could barely _move,_ let alone think about running. She wondered how Nuru was able to speak when she couldn't even muster the smallest of whimpers. Perhaps it was because he was stronger than her, or he's not even looking into the cobra's eyes like he told her not to do. There wasn't enough time to wonder as the cobra hissed loudly and then lunged at them. Shani blanked out briefly, as if she fainted. When she regained her senses she found herself on her side on the ground, her head spinning from the trance she was in. She looked ahead... and saw the cobra, its jaws wide open, because Nuru's staff was propped up in its mouth to keep it open. Nuru panted heavily as the cobra lashed from side to side, trying to remove or crush the sturdy stick.

"N-_Nuru?_" Shani blinked, surprised.

Nuru grunted when he heard her, whipped his head around to look at her and growled, "I said 'run,' you stupid rogue!_** RUN!**_" With that, Nuru turned around fully, yanked Shani up by her arm, and started to run forward, away from the cobra. Shani didn't need to be told again as she ran for her life. She was amazed at how quickly Nuru could run with a lame foot... he didn't even appear to be limping.

"We're just leading him back to the tunnels!" Shani panted as she tried to keep up to Nuru. She must have just made him realize that fact, because just then he ran right into a small rock that was up to his knee and tripped over it. Shani winced as Nuru muttered a few "ow's" and then she looked back to see if the cobra was following. The cobra was still trying to remove the staff from its mouth. When it would, it will come for them.

Shani rushed over to Nuru to help him up, but the instant he felt her paw on him Nuru batted it away. "Don't touch me!" He furiously felt around the rock, completely ignoring her.

"Look, I-I'm sorry for making you trip, but I--" She grimaced when Nuru turned his head to look at her, his paws still exploring the rock. She could just feel Nuru's eyes glaring at her...

"... Run that way." Nuru pointed to the north, where a large rock laid a few yards away.

"But the colony's _that_--"

"I _said,_ run _**that**_ way, _darn it!_ I _know_ what I'm doing! Trust me!" Nuru stood and began to run... but then he dropped to his right knee with a grunt and rubbed his left shin with a pained face. Shani had yet to leave as she was worried he wouldn't be able to run very long without his staff. She hurried over to him and began to drape his arm over his shoulder, but he just jerked it away. "I don't need your--!"

"If you want _me_ to trust _you, you_ gotta trust _me,_ too!" Shani growled at him with a furrowed brow. "So let me help you or I'm gonna _**drag**_ you by the tail!" Nuru blinked, surprised that she actually stood up to his rejection. After a moment, he held his arm out to her, to which she wrapped around her shoulder and helped him stand. "To that big rock, right?"

"Yeah... there's a cavity under there we use to get out of reach from predators... that creep's too big to be able to slip into." With that, Shani helped Nuru to run, which by this time the cobra had given chase. Sensing this Shani ran as fast as Nuru could follow. The entrance hole under the rock was a tight fit, but they could manage. Shani was stuck once, but Nuru pulled her in from within the cavity. As soon as they were both in, Nuru pushed a smaller rock to the entrance, to block anymore unexpected guests from entering. The cavity was about three feet wide and just over a foot high, so the two meerkats could easily stand. But then... they both dropped down onto the dirt, panting heavily. They were both exhausted from the shock and the run.

Shani sat across from Nuru, in case he didn't want to be near her after what just happened. She swallowed, and looked at him, still panting. "Are you OK? Did you get hurt? Your leg was--"

"I lost my staff... of course I was limping more than I should..." Nuru grumbled as he looked away from her, folding his arms over his chest.

"... I meant your _other_ leg..." She could barely hear it, but Nuru softly gulped and grimaced. Shani wrinkled her brow as she looked at him. "You hit your _left_ leg on that rock... you shouldn't have been able to run _at all..._"

Nuru softly growled as he turned his face to look at her. "Our lives were in danger... my sister needs you to find where Timon's oasis is... and I'm all she has. If I had to I would've _crawled_ to get in here."

"But... you weren't limping at _all_ before then--"

"_Like I said_--" Nuru growled through tightly clenched teeth. The pup was playing with fire...

As tired as she was, Shani pushed herself back onto her feet, and slowly approached Nuru. "You would've been limping while you were running, and I _think_ I would've noticed it... you can walk just fine on that leg, can't you?" She stopped in front of him, and knelt down to peer at the thick bangs over Nuru's eyes. If she could see his eyes it would be easier to tell if he was lying or not.

She lightly touched them to brush them aside, but Nuru quickly grabbed onto both of her wrists, and held onto them tightly. He leered at her and snarled, "Do that again and I'll _rip your **throat** out!_"

"... N... No, you wouldn't..." Shani was scared of how quickly he reacted to lightly touching his bangs. She wanted to see his eyes, and to do that she had to be brave. "If I can't speak, you won't know where the oasis is..." Nuru managed a growl as he found himself stomped at a reply. But he couldn't let her see... "Or would you rather show me yourself?"

"I don't want you to see them at _all. **Ever.**_" Nuru released her paws and shifted onto his side, his arms refolded over his chest.

Shani frowned as she walked around to look at him, to which he turned onto his opposite side. "It's another one of the colony's secrets, isn't it? Something you're trying to keep from the new bosses? Some weird reason why you're faking a limp?" Nuru didn't reply. The young female sighed and threw her paws up. "You're faking a limp to get out of work... why? Don't like digging, wanna get away from the bosses watching you? Lemme know if I'm close!"

"... I _can't_ dig," came Nuru's only reply to her. _If she figures it out... I'll have no choice... maybe I'll even feel better..._

"_Can't_ dig? How can you _not_ dig? _All_ meerkats know how to dig, or is that one of those senses things you told me abo--?" Shani suddenly stopped herself, her eyes widening. _No... it _couldn't_ be that... but..._ She turned to Nuru and stared at his back, squinting her eyes. "_No..._ you're...?"

Nuru looked over his shoulder at her, and then shifted into a normal sitting position, sighing deeply. He slowly raised his left paw up to his face. His paw slid in under his thick bangs. His fingers seeped through to the outside and began to lift the bangs away from his eyes. Shani felt her heart pounding, her eyes never wavering away. She softly gasped and widened her eyes when she finally saw his eyes. Nuru's eyes were closed when he brushed his bangs back to the top of his head and pinned them there with his paw. What surprised Shani the most... were the three swiping claw scars spread across both of his eyes, starting from the side of his left eye and ending at the side of his right. Nuru sighed again and opened his eyes, which were once deep blue were now pale blue and blank. His eyes turned to Shani, his expression was blank. "... Yes."

Shani cupped her paws over her mouth, suddenly feeling very uneasy to her stomach. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Nuru... you're... _blind...?_"

_To be continued..._

A/N: Surprised? I'm not sure how blind eyes would look for meerkats... I figured in real life they wouldn't even _have_ eyes anymore, but these are Disney-esque characters here... so I just had his eyes pale. Hope to see you soon!


	32. Dusk

Hmmm... the previous chapter has been up for a week, and I only got two reviews. Guess when that system error happened Story Alerts didn't get out until this week... I know I was just getting old reviews in the mail. Holidays count for something, too. Hope everyone _did_ have a good Thanksgiving. Well, in any case, if you didn't read the previous chapter, _**DO SO BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE.**_ I revealed a major secret that I _hope_ you didn't catch until sometime in Chapter 31. In any case, during the flashback sequence we're gonna get into soon, it's meant to be told by both Sly and Nuru. It saves me from retelling the same story when we get back to Shani and Nuru. I've wanted to write this one for a while now. _Warning, some violence and blood later in the chapter._ But enjoy! 

Chapter 32:

As Shani was recovering from the chase and seeing Nuru's eyes for the first time, Chiku, the last one up, was finally coming out of the warthogs' burrow from a comfortable sleep. Her daughter Eidi had already been up, trying to keep the seven little warthog piglets in order. Needless to say, she was not doing a very good job. Chiku shook her head with a gentle smile as she slowly walked towards her daughter and grandchildren. Her old age was beginning to catch up with her, and she knew she would not last another year, so she decided to make the best of her time. As she saw her mother approaching Eidi allowed the piglets to go about and play while the two would have some adult conversation.

"So..." Chiku began as she reached the group, giving the young ones their morning nudges as they came up to her, "Sabir and Barika have not returned yet?"

Eidi shook her head in reply. "I'm starting to worry... maybe we should go to the oasis and tell Jina and Pumbaa." She lightly frowned and wrinkled her brow when her mother shook her head. "Why not?"

"As I discussed with your sister yesterday, I'm old and I wouldn't make the trip. I wear out too easily anymore, and I'm not sure if I like the idea of you going by yourself when you have only been there twice." The old warthog sighed as she sat down and looked out towards the Savannah with her aging eyes. "We'll just have to leave Barika to Sabir..." As she turned her head to look away Chiku saw movement coming towards them, and squinted. "Do you see that, Eidi?"

Following her mother's gaze Eidi squinted her eyes slightly when she saw a reddish animal in the distance approaching the sounder. "It doesn't _look_ like a predator..." she began, and then tried to catch its sent in the passing wind. When she did Eidi coughed and rubbed her nose. "But it certainly _smells_ familiar..."

A voice was then heard from the direction of the approaching animal, who was now running towards them. "_**Heeeeeeeey!**_ **Chiku, is that you? It's me, Pumbaa!**" Both Chiku and Eidi looked at each other, eyes wide in surprised when they heard the familiar voice. They smiled and looked towards him as he trotted up to them, Timon on top of Pumbaa's head, Sly on Pumbaa's back, and Kito, still using his own legs to travel, was running to catch up to them all. "It _is_ you guys! First sounder we found today, Timon!" Pumbaa smiled as he greeted his mother- and sister-in-law with friendly nudges.

"Our luck's changing, my bwana buddy," Timon smiled as he slid down to Pumbaa's snout to be eye-to-eye with the warthogs.

Sly climbed up to be on top of Pumbaa's head so he, too, would be able to see the warthogs better. He looked down at his brother with a grimace. "Aww, c'mon, Timon, don't jinx it. It's not even brunch time yet and you're _already_ saying more than you should."

Then Kito had caught up to them, and was slightly out of breath as he sat down by Pumbaa's front hoof, and exhaled heavily. "So... have they... seen the g... girls?" he asked, swallowing.

Mother and daughter once again exchanged glances, and then Chiku asked, "I assume you mean Barika and Shani?"

"_Yes, exactly!_" Pumbaa nodded eagerly, causing Sly to grip onto the warthog's ears to keep from being flown off. Timon wrapped his arms around one of Pumbaa's tusks to avoid the same thing. "Have you seen them? Please-please-_**please **_say you have!"

"You're in luck, sort of," Eidi said with a light wag of her tail. Timon and Pumbaa leaned closer to the young female, hanging on her every word. "What I mean is, Barika _was_ here yesterday, but she told us that she and Shani were separated by elephants."

"Barika _was_ here! A-A-And she was all right?" Pumbaa asked excitedly, wagging his tail.

Chiku nodded once. "She was extremely tired when she came to us. After she rested for a while Sabir took her away to look for Shani where they were separated. They've yet to return..."

Finally feeling relief, Pumbaa sat down and smiled, panting softly. "Barika's safe... now we just have to worry about Shani..."

"Speaking of which..." Timon began as he unfolded his arms from his chest and leaned against one of Pumbaa's tusks. "You ladies wouldn't happen to know where a meerkat colony lead by a meerkat named Yasmin would be, _would_ you?" he asked, smiling his best.

"Yasmin... _Yasmin..._ the name sounds familiar..." Chiku wrinkled her brow as she tried to remember. She had decided to sit down as she was beginning to tire from standing.

Sly spoke up, "Her colony was the one who constructed the _Nunda_ monsters in the Outlands last year. The former leader was called Khairi. We think that's where Shani is."

Chiku smiled as she nodded. "Oh, yes, the _Makunga_ Mob... we've heard of them, but we've never _met_ them."

"Rumor has it their tunnels are somewhere near the river on the east coast," Eidi nodded her head in the direction the river was. "But we haven't heard much of them lately, at least what they've been up to. They may have moved."

"Not if Nuru is still part of the colony..." Sly said as he rubbed his chin with his paw. "If they moved around as much as we used to, then he'd never have a chance to memorize the area."

Having caught his breath, Kito stood and stretched as he looked up at his uncle, a bit curious. "What do you mean, Uncle Sly? Why's it so important to move around or memorize the place?"

"... Oh, _yeah,_ I never got down to telling you why Khairi passed over Nuru and gave leadership rights to Yasmin, did I?"

"That's right! So what happened?" Pumbaa asked eagerly, wagging his tail once more. "Did he attack you, or Khairi, or Sengbe, strike another peaceful rogue, what?" As he asked the warthog laid down on the lightly damp grass, soon followed by Eidi and Chiku... and then the seven piglets who thought it was story time.

Sly climbed down onto Pumbaa's snout with Timon and shook his head with a light smile and chuckle. "No, no, nothing like any of that, big guy... although it _does_ have something to do with rogues... and it lead him to hate 'em even more..."

_Four years ago..._

It had been a week since Sly and Sengbe had been allowed into Khairi's colony, and Sly had still yet to say a word to anyone. Not even a peep could be heard from him. Nuru had respected him for the work he put into digging, but he still did not trust him. Yasmin wanted to get closer to him, but she couldn't unlock his words. Still, she wanted to try. She found Sly laying in his nest in his chambers, his paws propped behind his head and his foot tapping on the nest. He was staring up at the ceiling when he heard her enter.

"Hey, Sly," Yasmin smiled sweetly. By this time Sengbe had informed everyone that his son only truly responds to him when he calls him Sylvester. So anyone else would have the right to call him by his nickname 'Sly.' "You wanna do something? The sun is setting, and we can watch it together... or wait a little longer and watch the bright lights come out. Don't you think it'd be fun?"

Sly rolled his eyes slightly, not that Yasmin would notice. _I don't even think I remember what fun _is_ anymore,_ he thought. Instead he shook his head with a heavy sigh.

Yasmin frowned as she walked around the nest to look at him, planting her paws on her hips. "Y'know, Sly... you're a stick in the mud. I invite you to do all these great things... flower arrangement, grooming, making flower bracelets..."

_Girl things, in other words,_ Sly grimaced.

"... But you never wanna _do **anything**_ with me. You could at _least_ say 'No' to me and tell me what you'd rather do instead! Maybe I'd like it... or maybe not. If we're gonna get married someday it would be nice to get to know how wonderful I am."

Sly rolled onto his side and snorted. _I never agreed to marrying you... I don't even _want_ to marry you... I didn't even wanna _be_ in this blasted colony! I _can't_ have you... you're not Zuri..._

Topside, the sun had begun to set, which meant it was time to head underground and get ready to sleep. Nuru, his eyes deep blue and bangs still short, had reached the ground after climbing down his sentry point tree. He reached for his walking staff he would use for protection... but found it wasn't there. He was suddenly whacked hard in the back with his own staff and fell to the ground, winded. Coughing and wincing, he looked up to see two large, muscular rogue meerkats, one holding his staff in both paws, were looming over him.

"Tell the head meerkat we wanna speak with him..." the one padding Nuru's staff in the palm of his paw hissed.

"And if I don't...?" Nuru managed to get out without coughing. He lightly gasped when the second meerkat knelt down in front of him and waved his claws under his nose.

"We'll give you a sneak peak of what we'll do to him," the second said with a smile.

The first grinned wickedly as he leaned the staff against his left shoulder. "Why wait for him to say no?"

"Couldn't agree more."

Nuru's eyes widened as much as they would allow. The meerkat with his claws extended drew his paw back as Nuru shouted, "_**Rogues!**_ Everyo--!" He screamed when the rogue's claws were raked across his chest and caused him to be rolled away about a foot.

Below ground the scream reached Sly's ears, causing him to sit up and look to Yasmin, who was still trying to convince him to do things with her. Yasmin paused when she noticed Sly's reaction to something, then looked upwards when she heard some rustling above their heads. "What was that?" Another noise which sounded like a grunt was heard, and both of them recognized it. "_**NURU!**_" Sly's head jerked towards the opening of his chambers... and he jumped out of his nest and ran out into the hall.

Back topside the two rogues approached the wounded Nuru, who was still trying to warn the colony of the rogues' arrival. The staff-wielding rogue had kicked him in the side and caused him to roll, and the rogue with his claws extended was approaching him, once again warning him to be quiet. Nuru was out of breath and clutching the wound on his chest, sore and weakened. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky, which was beginning to darken after the sun had set. He swallowed and clenched his teeth as he weakly called out, "R... R... Rog... _Rogues_...!"

"We _**warned**_ you!" The staff-wielding rogue raised the staff over his head, preparing to strike him down. The rogue with his claws out held onto the staff, preventing the other rogue from using it.

"Wouldn't it be more fun to rip his tongue out?" he grinned as he lightly dragged a claw along his own throat up to his chin. The other grinned as he looked down at Nuru, who hadn't the time to react when the staff-wielding rogue knelt down and pinned his arms down to the ground, having to toss the staff aside. Nuru did struggle to get free, but they were stronger than he was. The rogue with his claws out knelt down and pushed Nuru's chin back to expose his neck. Just as he was about to "operate," he felt a dizzying blow to the back of his head. He looked to the side to notice a fair-sized rock had appeared from no where. He looked over his shoulder to find a fist making contact with his nose, sending him reeling back and away from Nuru.

Nuru shook his head a few times, surprised at who he saw had come to his rescue. "_Sly?_" Sly cracked his knuckles after delivering the blow to the clawed rogue, and turned to the rogue pinning Nuru's shoulders down. Getting into a fighting stance, Sly made a simple gesture with his fingers, urging the rogue to come at him. With a snarl the rogue released Nuru and launched himself onto Sly, tackling him to the ground. Now able to move, Nuru slowly began to stand, pushing a paw against the claw wounds on his chest.

By this time Yasmin and Naysun were peeking out from the nearest tunnel entrance and were observing the fight between the meerkats. Naysun's heart raced, deathly afraid for Sly and Nuru. She couldn't even move from her spot. Yasmin, on the other hand, climbed out onto the surface and raced towards her brother when his injury became clear to her. "I'm coming, Nuru!"

The clawed rogue had recovered, rubbing his nose. He saw a female meerkat approaching, so he began to rose to attack her. Nuru, seeing this, snarled as he ran to the rogue and grabbed him behind, trying to bring him down. "Don't you _**touch**_ her, Scorpion Puss!" Yasmin stopped in her tracks when Nuru jumped the rogue, and just stared. She didn't know what she could do... Suddenly Nuru grunted as the rogue elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to release him. The rogue hissed as he extended the claws on his right paw and swung them at Nuru's face. He couldn't react in time. All he could do was scream and turn away after three sharp claws blinded him, and he knelt down to the ground, covering his eyes with his paw.

Yasmin froze as she watched the action, and tears flooded from her eyes. She started to inch forward... and felt her foot nudge something. She looked down and found that it was Nuru's staff. Picking it up she ran towards the rogue who injured her brother, who was aiming to hurt him even more. Swinging the staff at him Yasmin managed to knock him away from Nuru, who was too preoccupied nursing his eyes. Tears flowed freely from her eyes she continued to knock him down every time he tried to get back up. "_**Get away from him! GET OUT!**_" Apparently Naysun had recovered from the shock enough to get the rest of the colony to come out and help. The rogue who had been fighting with Sly had been pinned by him, and noticed the cavalry had arrived. He kicked Sly away from him and began to run away from the tunnels, where a few meerkats gave chase. The rogue that had blinded Nuru soon escaped from Yasmin's beatings and followed after him, also having a few meerkats chase him.

Sly panted heavily as he began to stand and stared after the two rogues. He only suffered a bite to his left paw and a few bruises... nothing that wouldn't heal. Sengbe ran to him and looked him over frantically. If his son was seriously injured and died, Sengbe would likely have to leave... Fortunately for both of them, he thought, he was fine. Khairi approached Sly, with Naysun by his side. "_What happened?_" he demanded in a soft tone, but he appeared furious.

Before anyone could reply, they turned towards Yasmin's weeping voice. "Someone, _help!_ It's Nuru! He's--!" Sly and Naysun ran ahead of the two older meerkats to Yasmin, who was kneeling down next to Nuru and holding onto his arm. Nuru continued to hold a paw over his eyes, but blood was seeping through his fingers and down his chin. "My brother's hurt bad! His eyes are..." She tried to swallow the lump in her throat that prevented her from saying what had happened. "Help him, Sly, _**please!**_" She looked up to Sly with pleading eyes, which surprised him slightly. Why, he couldn't say. He walked around to the other side of Nuru and eased him onto his feet. Together, Sly and Yasmin helped him walk to the tunnels to be treated.

_To be continued... (Flashback resumes into the next chapter!)_


	33. Trust and Betrayal

Back for another chapter? Sweet. By this time I'm sure everyone read the last two chapters, so no point saying go ahead and read 'em or you'll miss something. Nah, I'll save that for later. Also, I decided to make it known to everyone that although it's true that in real life meerkats dig in the darkness of their tunnels, the meerkats in_ Lion King 1 ½ (3)_ could see just fine in their tunnels with little to no sunlight. They're passing stones to each other, propping up ceilings with sticks, dancing in perfect harmony, avoid bumping into each other, and Panya (Ma)'s reaction to Uncle Max's flinching reaction when she finds him. I'd like to think I'm mixing both real facts and what was in the movies together to see what works. Since Disney meerkats seem to see well underground with very little natural light, we'll assume blind meerkats have a much harder time digging (_well,_ anyway) than seeing meerkats. That cool with everyone? Well, enough of that. Let's get back to the flashback, shall we? Read on! 

Chapter 33:

"My own son… blinded by rogues…" These were the first words spoken by Khairi in a special recovery chamber within the tunnels after the two rogues were chased off and Nuru was guided back to safety. His eyes were carefully being treated with water and herbs, sealed together with tiny leaves. He breathed heavily, apparently asleep, as Naysun used water and herbs on the wound on his chest. Sly sat across from Nuru on the other side of the chamber, his left paw receiving the same treatment by Yasmin, who for once was silent and wearing a gloomy frown.

Sengbe stood beside Khairi and looked between the two wounded meerkats. "Hmph… if you asked for _my_ opinion, if he had acted as he did when Sylvester and I first came here, he would _not_ have been injured like that." Both Sly and Yasmin looked to Khairi and sneered, clearly offended. "My _deepest_ sympathies, Khairi… and to you two ladies as well. From what I knew of Nuru he was a fine meerkat… stubborn and violent, but--"

"**Don't say such things about our brother!**" Naysun snapped suddenly as she stood and glared at Sengbe, red in the face and tears in her eyes. "He is _**not**_ dead! And as soon as he heals he'll be back to normal, you'll see! I just _know_ it!" She didn't wait to hear anyone else's opinions on the matter, so she ran out of the chambers before they could, right through Sengbe and Khairi.

Khairi watched after his youngest daughter, and shook his head disapprovingly. "So innocent, that one… she would never make a good ruler if she does not accept the truth," he said with a faint cough.

"… She has a point, Father." Eyes turned to Yasmin, who had finished tying a knot in the vine that was holding the leaves on Sly's paw together. "Nuru's injuries aren't bad enough that he'd die from them… so quit talking like that, Sengbe, or I'll never speak to you again. We won't need another funeral."

"… Oh, such a _brave_ girl, aren't you, Yasmin?" Sengbe cooed as he walked over and patted her on the shoulder with a smile. "Just the kind of girl I would want my son to have, am I right, Sylvester?" He raised his eyes to be level with Sly's, who only frowned and twitched his nose at him. "… Given the right training, who knows?" With a wink and a grin to Sly, Sengbe turned to Khairi and bowed to him. "May I speak with you privately, Khairi?" A brief pause, and then a nod from the elder meerkat lead to the two of them to walk out of the chamber, leaving Sly, Yasmin, and the sleeping Nuru alone.

A small sniffle caused Sly to look to Yasmin, who was quickly rubbing her eyes and looking away from him. "Please don't look at me right now, Sly… I don't want you to see me when I'm like this." She softly whimpered as she turned away from him when she felt hot tears sliding down her cheeks and pawed them away. She swallowed and tried to sound like her usual cheerful self, but her voice was trembling. "Tears are pretty wasted… I don't even know _why_ we have 'em. They don't _do_ anything except make you look pathetic and wet." She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "And they make your nose run, too… it's not very pretty… and certainly not on _me…_ I wish I never had to cry…"

The dark-haired meerkat stared at the back of Yasmin's head. She couldn't hide how worried or scared she was to him, and she didn't even _want_ to cry about it. So Sly rose from his seat on the small rock and walked around to the front of Yasmin. She only looked away from him again… and was taken by complete surprised when he pulled her body up to his and wrapped his arms around her. Yasmin felt a blush in her cheeks and blinked a few times, shocked and a little embarrassed. "… It's all right to be sad." Yasmin's eyes widened when she heard him speak for the very first time. He had _such_ a wonderful voice... "You don't have to put up a brave front in front of me. Cry all you want… I won't tell anyone." Recovering from the shock, her face drooped, leading her to wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his chest, willingly releasing the tears she had been trying to suppress. For an undetermined amount of time Sly held Yasmin in his arms to comfort her as Yasmin continued to cry and wet his chest. It might have gone on longer until they heard a groan from within the chamber.

"… _Nnnugh…_ aaaaahhhhh…" Nuru had awakened, and he winced when the pain had also awakened, making him grit his teeth and clutch onto his chest and placed a paw over his eyes. He felt the leaves and vines covering and keeping them in place and winced again when he felt the medicine seep into the wounds. "_**YOW! Rogues!**_" He pulled his paws away from the leaf-and-vine bandages and swung them in the air to try to hit the invisible assailants. "_Get back! Get away! **Help!**_"

Both Yasmin and Sly rushed over and knelt down by his side to grab his arms. Yasmin took hold of the right , and Sly took hold of the left, leaving Nuru struggling to get free. "Nuru, _**Nuru,**_ stop it! It's OK, it's just the medicine that hurts!"

"Yeah, the rogues are long gone!" Sly added, pinning Nuru's arm down to the dirt he was laying on. Both Sly and Yasmin were surprised as Nuru still tried to struggle to get his arms free from them.

"Don't say that when _you're_ still here! Who are you and why haven't you been chased off yet?" Nuru hissed, his eyes sneering from underneath the medicine and leaves.

"'Cuz Khairi wanted me to marry your sister someday, that's why," Sly returned with a slight growl, to which Yasmin frowned at. "Nuru, it's me, Sly."

When Sly said who he was, Nuru suddenly paused with realization. Before he had no idea what Sly's voice sounded like. And now… Sly and Yasmin released Nuru's arms when his breathing calmed and he laid his head down on a padded pillow of leaves. "…_ Sly…?_" Nuru stared through his closed blind eyes and leaves covering his eyes at Sly, and chuckled slightly as he shook his head. "Heh-heh… the first time I hear your voice… heh-heh-heh… and I can't see your mouth moving… _Heh-heh-heh-heh…_ and I probably never will! _**Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh!**_ Is… Is that ironic or what?" He continued to laugh as if it was the funniest thing to try to show he was in good spirits, but Sly quickly noticed blood and medicine sliding down the side of his head from the leaf bandage on his eyes, and more followed. He knew it wasn't _all_ blood and medicine.

"… Nuru… this isn't something to be laughing at, and I know you _really_ wanna sulk." Sly turned to the entrance of the recovery chambers with a furrowed brow. "But the less you feel sorry for yourself, the sooner your wounds will heal. I'm counting on it."

"Yeah? And since when did _you_ become a shaman?" Nuru asked with a sarcastic air, tapping his fingers on the ground while the other paw wiped the blood and medicine off the side of his head. He jumped slightly when Yasmin moved her paw down to grasp onto Nuru's tapping paw.

"Listen to him, Nuru, _please..._ I want you to get better..."

With a faint snort, Nuru turned his face away from Yasmin and mumbled, "I don't see _that_ happening anytime soon..."

"_**You have to!**_" Sly barked unexpectedly. Both Yasmin and Nuru jumped at that, surprised. Sly surprised himself with how he said it. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "I could tell by the tone of my father's voice and the looks he was giving that he's planning something. I don't know _what_ exactly, but it can't be good for us, especially you, Nuru, since he only started acting this way after you got hurt. And I just _know_ it'll have something to do with _'my'_ best interests..."

Yasmin swallowed hard and tightened her grip on Nuru's paw, to which he returned. After a moment of silence Nuru sat up wincing, sore from the fight and the wound on his chest. "So he's hoping I won't get better, is _that_ it? Then what do _you_ suggest, huh? Wait until he tries to push me down a deeper hole?"

"Look, I don't know yet, all right? I just think until you're healed you shouldn't be left alone. We'll get Naysun to help us and we'll help you get around safely."

"Hey, I don't _need_ your help--!"

Sly interrupted, "That's not that _I_ saw today, or were you just giving those rogues an invitation to cut your throat?" Nuru gritted his teeth with a frustrated growl, then he snorted and turned away. "Listen, it'll be a while before your eyes heal, and until then someone's gotta be looking out for ya, 'cuz right now I don't trust my father."

"... I don't entirely trust _you_ yet either..." Nuru grumbled as he turned his face to be equal with Sly's. "But after what you did today I _do _have a higher opinion of you."

"... You trust me and Naysun, don't you?" Yasmin asked with pleading eyes. Despite the fact that Nuru couldn't see them, he gulped and grimaced. He knew his sister well enough to know when she is making a certain kind of face by the tone of her voice, and then he nodded to her. As if she could ask a sillier question... "Well, Naysun and I trust _Sly._" She looked to Sly briefly with a small smile, and then turned back to Nuru. "And I, for one, think he's right. I don't wanna take a chance and see you get hurt again... it hurts me too much... So _please,_ trust him. Let him help you... help _us..._"

By this time Yasmin had taken hold of both of Nuru's paws, and she was once again fighting not to cry, but she didn't brush away any stray tears that leaked out. By the faint sniffle Nuru could tell she was crying, and he sighed, looking away from her. "... Until I heal. After that I wanna go back to ignoring him."

"Fine with me," Sly mused as he folded his arms over his chest. Yasmin smiled a bit, a little relieved that there was less tension between the two males, and that Nuru was going to be all right. She knew that before long he would be able to see again.

For the following eight weeks Nuru was never left alone. He was always accompanied by either Sly, Yasmin, or Naysun, each who were helping him through the tunnels and avoiding tripping over any lose pebbles. Nuru had begun to get the hang of using his walking staff as a guide, sweeping it back and forth to avoid obstacles, turns, and the occasional meerkat working or walking. The wounds over his eyes had become scars during this time, and despite everyone's hopes, Nuru did _not_ regain his sight. It was the morning of this discovery that everyone was gathered in the central meeting tunnel, where Nuru stood before his father and Sengbe, with Sly, Yasmin, and Naysun standing nearby. Nuru's head was bowed and his eyes were closed. He did not know exactly what to expect, but he could sense the seriousness of the room.

"... Nuru," Khairi began, causing Nuru to open his eyes and raise his face to the sound of his father's voice, "this has been a difficult two months, not only for you, but for me as well. The question of whether or not your sight would return plagued my mind for several nights, and what would happen if it did not return. And now it seems I have to decide." He inhaled deeply, as if it weighed very heavily on his heart. Sly held his breath when he saw a smirk spread across Sengbe's face. Sengbe looked to Sly and winked, as if Sly had some part in Khairi's decision. "Based upon your past decision making skills and your decision to _not_ call for help when the two rogues came--"

"_**What!**_" Nuru interrupted, appalled by what he just heard his father say. "I _**yelled**_ at the top of my lungs that rogues had come! No one came to help me, except Sly, and--!"

"_**I am not finished!**_" Khairi barked, silencing Nuru. Nuru clenched his jaw tightly and balled his paws up into fists, which visibly shook. "... No one heard you call, except for Sylvester... and he held off the rogue he fought better than you did with the one who blinded you..."

Yasmin stepped up, much to the surprise of many. "But Father, he protected me from that same--"

"The way I have heard it, Yasmin, _you_ protected _him_ better after he was blinded... in fact, you and Sylvester are probably _more_ suited for leadership than Nuru is."

Nuru's eyes snapped as wide as they could, in complete shock of Khairi's words. Yasmin gasped and put her paws over her mouth, shaking her head in denial. Sly gritted his teeth and glared at Sengbe, who was visibly grinning from ear to ear. "You're not saying that--!"

"I am," Khairi said sternly, and looked to Sly. "Sylvester, on the day I die, you and my eldest daughter Yasmin will marry and take my place as the leaders of the colony. You are both strong and will defend the ways of the colony in a better fashion than Nuru would have." Naysun covered her quivering mouth with her paw, trying to keep herself from crying right there. Yasmin panted softly, winded, as she stepped back next to Sly, who put a paw on her shoulder to keep her steady.

Nuru was frozen in shock, his blind eyes staring at Khairi and Sengbe, unable to read the expressions on their faces, as they remained silent. "... Father, you _can't_ mean this... I've made poor decisions, but what leader _hasn't?_ _You're_ not perfect, you know!"

"... That's not the only reason I have decided to pass leadership over to your sister." That's when it dawned on Nuru... Khairi called this meeting just as soon as it was revealed that Nuru was still blind. _Then that means..._ "... A blind meerkat cannot do anything to help his colony survive, and he certainly couldn't tell a good judge of character even when he could see. He can no longer see where he's digging, nor can he be a good sentry. Without eyes he certainly cannot lead the colony in the right direction. So, Nuru, it is my decision that the colony will move to a new location... and leave _you_ behind." Surprised gasps and murmurs arose from the space, shocked that Khairi would abandon his _only_ son. Nuru stared up at him with despair in his blind eyes, and turned to face the rest of the colony, who wouldn't dare to go against their leader.

"_**Father--!**_" Naysun began to scream out, only to have Yasmin pull her back and hold onto her tightly, heartbroken by their father's decision. "Not my brother, _**please!**_"

"**_I will be obeyed!_**" Khairi growled, and then he reared back into a coughing fit, held upright by Sengbe. "Nuru will _**not**_ be accompanying us! Now, _**move out!**_ We are_ leaving!_" Helped by Sengbe, Khairi stopped next to his son, who turned his blind eyes to his father. Khairi wore no emotion on his face as he continued to walk on past. Sengbe continued to grin as he walked with him, once again winking to Sly. "Yasmin, Naysun, don't dawdle!" Khairi coughed as he and Sengbe walked out.

"We... We're coming, Father..." Yasmin softly called after him, clutching a paw over a flower bracelet around her wrist. Biting her lip, Yasmin walked up to Nuru, who turned to face her approaching footsteps. Removing the bracelet Yasmin took her brother's paw and slipped it through onto his wrist. "I didn't want this... I _swear_ I didn't want this..." she whispered, choking back her tears.

Nuru looked at her sadly as he pulled her into a hug, lightly pawing her hair. "I know you didn't... you're not the kind who wanted to lead a colony. You wanted to decorate it." Yasmin laughed slightly and sniffled. Naysun next approached them, who seemed to have trouble finding words to express herself. Instead, she just threw her arms around both Yasmin and Nuru and started to cry. Nuru hugged both of his sisters for a short while, knowing that if they stayed any longer they would be left behind as well. So he slowly let them go and backed away from them. "I love you both... I hope you each find happiness. ... Sly... take care of them or I won't forgive you."

Lightly smirking, Sly shrugged, "I'll watch 'em for ya... good luck, Nuru..." With that Sly got between Yasmin and Naysun and took both of them by the paw. Together they walked out of the central meeting tunnel, both Yasmin and Naysun looking back at their brother one more time before they had to leave, and turned the corner.

Nuru stood in the middle of the empty room for a while... and then dropped down to his paws and knees and repeatedly pounded his paw into the dirt, cursing many different things... among them was how Khairi didn't even mention to Nuru that he was sorry for doing this, or that he was doing it as a last resort. He didn't even make a point that he _cared_ for him _at all!_ Not a _single **word**_ of kindness from the meerkat who gave him life... Sure that he was alone, he rested his forehead on the softened dirt floor and openly sobbed, angered by his father and his colony.

_To be continued (Flashback concludes in next chapter!)..._


	34. Survival

Laziness, business, and unsure when these events take place in the movies was my problem this time around. Also my mother had surgery and was pretty much confined to the living room for 2 weeks, and it's kinda hard to work while the TV is going and she's trying to talk to me. Sorry for making y'all wait. Hopefully I can get back to doing more than one chapter a month... The flashback concludes... 

Chapter 34:

The saying goes that beggars can't be choosers, which has become all too true to the residents of the once proud Pride Lands. Scar's reign as king had begun to take its toll on not only the vegetation, but to the animals as well. Many were starving, stealing and turning on each other for a bite to eat, whatever the cost may be. The hyenas had the run of the lands, abusing whatever came in their way and eating whatever animal they were in the mood for. Of all the intelligent animals, the meerkats faired about the best of them, so long as there were plenty of bugs scurrying on the dry surface and under roots or birds with nests to steal an egg from. The colonies who would move on to a different location had to be extra careful, though, because one of the hyena's favorite pastimes is tormenting and eating the diggers. And there was no exception to the colony later known as the _Makunga_ Mob.

There was neither time nor need to send scouts out to find a new home... everywhere was about the same anymore. If you send four meerkats out during any hour of the day or night, none of them would return. Meerkats were, and still are, a favorite snack for _any_ predator. Besides, Khairi made the decision to move and move now as a last moment's thought, making sure Nuru had no time to beg him to stay with them. The leader's decision, it seemed, was final. The mob's new home rested half an hour from their former tunnel. Travel any farther in the Pride Lands and you won't have a chance to dig for safety. A week had passed in their new home, which seemed like forever to Yasmin, who would become leader with Sly once Khairi's place in the Circle of Life was complete. She felt she no longer had the freedom she had before... when her brother was to be the next leader.

And it seemed Yasmin was not the only one who shared her disapproval. "I still can't believe you could sink so low! Who told you that I wanted to become the next leader, anyway?" Sly growled as he followed Sengbe down the halls of the tunnel. Sengbe had an overly-cocky grin on his face as he glanced over his shoulder to Sly, and then looked straight ahead again. Sly blinked once at that, and then his face starting to redden at his father's dismissal. "I didn't even want to _be_ in this blasted colony and you--!"

"Up until two months ago," Sengbe interrupted, stopping at an intersection in the hall, "you didn't say a word at _all._ You never said you disliked the idea." He smirked when Sly huffed and clenched his paw, his lip curling up into a snarl. "Whether you believe me or not, Sylvester, this is for your well-being. Nuru was in no condition to lead a colony without his eyes and Khairi was already considering passing leadership to you and Yasmin anyway. I merely... _persuaded_ him to go with the idea."

"... Well, did you have to _persuade_ him to leave Nuru out there to die? His sisters--" Sly grunted as he was pushed up against the wall, Sengbe tightly clenching his paw on Sly's shoulder.

Sengbe sneered as he leaned down to meet Sly's face and softly hissed, "We are meerkats... we need each other to survive. He would not have been any use to us. Odds are he would've died in the move anyway, so what are you so surprised about?" He uncurled his fingers from the younger meerkat's shoulders, and then he clapped his paws behind his back with a smile. "You should be happy... because of Shomari I was unable to take position as leader in our former colony. Now you, my last living son, will be able to have what I couldn't. Don't be so selfish." Sly glared as his father walked down the left tunnel, humming to himself as he disappeared into the darkness.

In his frustration, Sly snarled and punched his paw into the wall, creating a small cavity in the shape of his knuckles. He softly winced as he pulled his paw back and rubbed his knuckles. "I can't even bring myself to _punch_ him..." He scoffed to himself and turned back the way he came, hoping to find something to soothe himself before his next shift.

Night drew over the land, sending the hard workers of the colony to their nests for some well-deserved sleep. Sly only laid back in his nest with an assortment of thoughts swimming through his head. _Would it have made such a difference to the colony if Nuru had been allowed to stay? Maybe he wouldn't be the next leader, but..._ He snapped back to reality when he heard movement in the tunnel, which caused him to wrinkle his brow. Normally everyone is asleep by this time, except for the occasional night visit to the latrine. Still, for some reason the fact that someone was up was nagging at Sly, which caused him to get up out of his nest and look down into the hall. No one was in sight... but the scent of the recently passed meerkat lingered, which Sly took in with several sniffs. "... She wouldn't...!"

_And so..._

There was no difference of safety between traveling within the daytime or nighttime anymore, but it would seem less likely that Yasmin would be caught sneaking out of the tunnels when her colony was asleep. Still, her little heart pounded in her chest in both anticipation and fear as she braved the thirty minute distance and neared an entrance to her former tunnel. Taking a deep breath Yasmin climbed down into the dark tunnel, hoping there were no new unlikely residents taking shelter here. Breathing softly but unsteadily she began to slowly walk forward, one paw clutching her chest while the other lightly dragged along the wall, her fingers leaving a faint trail. She was afraid to speak out in case someone unfriendly was living here now and she would not make it out in time. She glanced inside chambers as she explored her former home, hoping to find what she was looking for.

Yasmin softly gasped and froze in her tracks when she heard footsteps and a growl behind her. She was panting, her eyes wide in fear, but unable to look back. She heard swift movement and braced herself... until she heard a body drop down with a grunt and then a voice. "These are **_my_** tunnels! **_GET OUT!_**" Yasmin recognized the voice instantly and spun around to see Nuru, much thinner than he was a week ago when she had last seen him, his hair and fur were in a mess of rats from the lack of grooming, and his chipped staff was aimed at another meerkat's chest, who was lying on his back. She squinted, then grunted in surprise when she realized that the meerkat on his back was Sly, who had followed her here.

Sly stayed on his back and glared at Nuru for a moment... and then he grinned and chuckled, "You haven't changed a bit, have ya, Nuru?" He was referring to how Nuru would strike first and ask questions later, which would normally get the meerkat in trouble with his father.

"... _Sly?_" Nuru seemed mildly surprised and blinked his blind eyes several times... and then he furrowed his brow a touch, pulling his staff away from Sly and leaning his weight against it. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Sly softly grunted as he stood back onto his own feet, dusting the dirt out of his fur. "Well, you told me to look after your sisters."

Nuru wrinkled his brow, and then turned to the meerkat behind him, who quickly ran up to him and threw her arms around him, surprising him a bit. But it didn't take him long for him to drop his staff and wrap his arms around her. "... Yasmin, you spoiled little princess..." he muttered as he kissed the top of her head. "You shouldn't be here..."

"I know, but I couldn't help it... I missed you, Nuru..." Yasmin whispered as she brushed her cheek against Nuru's fur, which made Nuru lightly paw her hair in response. "It hurts not having you there... Isn't there some way we can talk Father into letting you come back?" Her eyes weakened when she felt her brother's head shake.

"I don't see a way..." he whispered as he held Yasmin out in front of him, lightly touching her cheek with his paw.

Sly watched the two of them for a moment, feeling guilty that his father had a hand in this decision. What could he do? How could they fix this? His thoughts were interrupted when another meerkat came running into view of them, having been listening to them all from the darkness. "But you _have_ to come back!" Their heads jerked towards the meerkat, who was carrying a folded leaf around her shoulders and tossed it aside as she ran to Nuru and hugged him tightly. Yasmin had backed away from him when the meerkat made herself known.

"Naysun?" Nuru returned the hug as his youngest sister cried into his chest, and then his eyes glared in the direction Sly had been standing. "I told you to look after _both_ of my sisters and you let her follow you through _**hyena-infested territory?**_"

"If I knew she was following me I _would have!_" Sly growled in return, and then looked to Naysun. "You know how dangerous it is out there, Naysun--!"

"I don't care! I wanted to see my brother again, just like Yasmin did!" came Naysun's reply, sobbing and wetting Nuru's chest fur. Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly as she continued, "I can't stand losing another family member! Mother's gone, Father's illness will take him, too, and now I have to lose Nuru? You're still alive, so why do _you_ have to leave me? Just because you can't see doesn't mean you can't think or feel, too! It's not fair!"

Nuru softly sighed as he ran his paw over Naysun's hair. "Life's not fair... I was blinded because I didn't turn away from that rogue fast enough. A mute or a deaf has a better chance to help the colony, but not the blind... I can't dig well anymore and I can't be a sentry either... what can I do for the colony, especially with the Pride Lands being as bad as they are?"

Yasmin sighed as she leaned against the wall and looked down at her feet. "If only there was some place where we didn't have to worry about our safety, where we didn't have to run or worry about being eaten... but that's a dream, isn't it?" Sly watched the three of them silently, listening intently and rubbing his chin. _If only... but perhaps it _is_ just a dream..._

Later they had settled inside the former central meeting tunnel, the last place the four of them were together before the move. The folded leaf Naysun had brought with her contained an assortment of bugs, in case Nuru had trouble finding or catching something to eat. There wasn't a single exoskeleton left when Nuru got a hold of it. Yasmin and Naysun sat next to Nuru, who was finishing off the last of the bugs and allowing his sisters to groom his hair and fur back to normal. Sly sat across from them, slightly content that the siblings were together again... but only for a little while. "... Couldn't we talk to Father and--?" Naysun began.

"Just let it go, Naysun," Nuru interrupted, picking his teeth with a piece of a bug's wing. "Khairi won't let me back just because you two beg and whine nonstop." He softly exhaled as he turned his blind eyes away from them. "He doesn't care about me anymore..." The group sat in silence for a few moments after Nuru had said that.

"... Maybe if Scar didn't let the hyenas run loose all the time, it'd be different..." Yasmin sighed as she pulled a tick out of Nuru's fur, making him wince.

Sly lightly scoffed, "The hyenas are cowards and scavengers, picking on animals who can't defend themselves. The only animals who can defend themselves the best are the lions." He then smirked, "I've heard rumors that one roar from King Mufasa, and they wet themselves. But then King Scar has power over the lionesses and he lets the hyenas do whatever they want with them. There aren't any other males out here, and that's their biggest fear..."

"Yeah... it's too bad we don't have one of them on our side, huh?" Naysun muttered as she lightly untangled a rat's nest in Nuru's hair. "No hyena would _dare_ come near the tunnels... then maybe Father would--" She stopped herself when she felt she would only be silenced by such a hopeless thought.

Nuru tossed his "toothpick" aside as he listened to them all with some amusement... and then a thought struck him. "... What if we made it _sound_ like we had one on our side?" All eyes turned to him, confused at what he meant. "Just stay with me... I might have an idea that'll make everyone happy... except maybe Father and Sengbe, of course..." Sly smirked at the idea that it would make his father frown, already liking it. Yasmin and Naysun listened eagerly, smiling and waiting to hear what their brother was planning...

_Three days later..._

Life continued as normal at the colony... except that Naysun was up on the surface digging a hole a few yards from the main tunnel. When she resurfaced she exhaled and dusted some of the dirt from her hair. She stood erect and turned in a circle to see if there was anything she would be in danger from. Fortunately, there was not. Sighing in relief Naysun took a few steps away from the hole she had just created and continued to dust herself off, smirking with satisfaction. _This is gonna work... it _has_ to..._ She looked around again to make sure the coast was clear, and then she turned to a bush nearby and waved her paws to it. "All clear..."

Sly was the first to step out, looking from side to side to make sure Naysun didn't miss anything. Satisfied, he took hold of Nuru's paw and lead him out of the bushes. Nuru had to trust Sly to guide him over without him tripping over something, as his other paw was pulling a banana leaf behind that carried both his staff and an odd-shaped shell with a mouth nozzle at the end of it. They reached Naysun, who was anxiously wringing her paws. "It shouldn't take too long before something comes along..." Sly muttered as he leaned down to grab Nuru's staff, lightly nudging him with it on the shoulder so he knew he had it.

"I'm more concerned about it working... and what Father will think about it..." Nuru returned as he released the leaf stem to take his staff. "If he doesn't go for it--"

"_Please_ don't talk like that, Nuru," Naysun groaned a little as she stopped dusting herself off. "It already sounds really scary... it's not a lion, but it still might--"

"So it's true." The three meerkats froze when an elderly voice interrupted them, and they knew exactly who it was as they turned to the source. Khairi, Sengbe, and three other meerkats had emerged from the tunnel and were approaching them, Yasmin right behind them with her head bowed down. Nuru clenched his jaw as they stopped near him, his fur nearly on end. Sly growled softly when he saw Sengbe smirk at him. Naysun softly gulped as Yasmin came around and stood next to her. "... Sengbe had told me you three have been acting strangely these past few days," Khairi addressed Sly, Yasmin, and Naysun, "but I would never had thought you would _dare_ defy me in doing so..." He sneered at Nuru, who could sense it, and furrowed his brow to him. "You've been feeding him, haven't you?"

Nuru softly snorted to him, "I'm so _touched_ you're worried about my health, Father..." He calmed down slightly when Naysun walked up next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"How did you find out anyway? We were being so careful," Naysun asked, clutching a piece of her fur on her chest.

Sengbe grinned as he nodded his head back to the three other meerkats behind him. "I had a few friends keep an eye on you, once I noticed you weren't doing you were suppose to be lately..."

"So now you have _spies_ following me everywhere I go?" Sly growled, balling his paws into tightly packed fists, resisting the urge to use them. "That's low, even for _you,_ Pop!"

"That _enough,_ Sylvester," Khairi softly growled, to which Sly shuddered at the sound. He turned back to Nuru, shaking his head disapprovingly. "This is why I moved us right away, so you would not be able to come back to us. Now it seems we'll have to move again... or else we'll feed you to the hyenas." Naysun gasped and clung onto Nuru, as if to say to leave her with him or not to leave him at all.

"_**NO!**_" Yasmin stepped forward towards Khairi, clasping her paws together in front of her in a pleading manner, "Father, _**please,**_ listen--" She grunted when Sengbe stepped up between her and Khairi, separating them. She leaned to the side to try to look to her father, Sengbe still trying to keep them apart. "Just because Nuru is blind now, it doesn't mean he's worthless! He has an idea that'll help protect the colony, and if you'd give him a chance--"

"An idea that he can't do himself without help or he needs someone else to do it, no doubt," Sengbe scoffed as he addressed Khairi.

Sly frowned as he stepped up next to Yasmin and stared into Sengbe's gray eyes. "And what's wrong with that? 'Meerkats need each other to survive.' Isn't that what you told me, Pop? And since when do you _need_ eyes to be able to help someone?"

Sengbe frowned and lightly furrowed his brow at Sly's defiance. "Eyesight is important--"

"So are hearing, smelling, touching, and thinking, and he can still do all that!" Naysun spoke up, still clinging onto Nuru, who was lightly patting her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. It wasn't working. "Just because Nuru can't see, it doesn't make him any less of a meerkat! If you lost your eyes tomorrow, Sengbe, you'd still be able to stay with us because you could still give advice and still be an asset to us!" Sengbe lightly gulped at that note, then his frown deepened and he grunted, looking away from them. "Just listen to what he has to say, Father, _please!_"

Khairi listened to the young meerkats speak to him, and after a moment he stepped out from behind Sengbe, his paws folded behind his back, and his face stern. He turned his weary eyes to Sly and Yasmin, who only stared back to him. "... You want me to do _more_ than just listen to him, don't you, Yasmin?"

"I understand that Nuru can't be the next leader," Yasmin sighed, sensing defeat, "but... we want him back in the colony. You don't even have to acknowledge him; we'll take full responsibility for anything he does wrong," she motioned to herself, Sly, and Naysun, who both nodded. "If this doesn't work, well... it'll work. Please."

The elder meerkat stood before his children and future son-in-law, staring at them with a cold expression for a few moments. No one felt brave enough to break the silence. "... Tell me about this... _idea_ of yours, Nuru."

"_Khairi--!_"

"_**Silence, **_Sengbe! ... Let's just hear what he has to say..."

A few sighs of relief from the four young meerkats, and then Nuru took a step closer to Khairi, clearing his throat. "This idea came to me a few days ago... our main predators are mostly hyenas, right? We all know they're idiots and cowards, but they only _truly_ react with fear to a male lion's roar, or at least something that may _sound_ like a roar. My idea is... we make it sound like we _have_ one."

"And how do you propose we do _that?_" Sengbe huffed, folding his arms over his chest with a deeply furrowed brow.

Sengbe arched his brow slightly as he watched Sly walk around to the banana leaf and pick up the oddly shaped shell they had brought with them. He came back around, standing next to Nuru as he presented the shell. "With _this._"

"... A discarded _shell,_ Nuru?" Khairi asked skeptically. "You plan to make a _shell_ sound like a _lion?_"

"All right, so maybe it's _not_ a lion, Father," Nuru returned with a faint growl in his voice, "but it's still louder than any lion I've ever heard of." He turned his blind eyes to the shell in Sly's paws as he continued. "I remember playing with these kinds of shells as a pup. Knocking them into each other, making pillars out of them and knocking them over, and listening to the wind blow over them to make a sound. If you blow into them with your own breath you can make a louder noise, an almost _bellowing_ noise." Khairi had his paw to his chin, lightly stroking it. He seemed intrigued.

Yasmin stepped up to Sly to take the shell away from him, and held it up to both Khairi and Sengbe, as well as the three meerkats Sly had dubbed "spies." "If you fill them up with something, like water, the sound deepens. We've tested it before and it's _terrifying!_"

"No creature in their right _mind_ would want to come near it!" Naysun chirped up, stepping up next to Nuru and hugging his arm. "And if they won't come near _it,_ they won't come near the _tunnels,_ and that means we're _much_ safer than we've ever been before!"

"... So with _this..._" Khairi began as he took the shell from Yasmin's paws to examine it himself, "... any creature with unpleasant intentions... will be frightened away?"

Nuru nodded once. "As long as it's well hidden and they're far enough away that they couldn't see it anyway, we'd be safe." He inhaled deeply and clenched a paw around his staff. "... So... what do you think?"

"... You may be more useful than I had put into consideration." Yasmin and Naysun quickly smiled at their father's hesitant approval to their brother's idea. Sengbe stared at Khairi, aghast, while Sly only smirked at the look on his father's face. "... Perhaps you may have more ideas, given the proper opportunity to use them." With a heavy exhale, he turned his eyes from the shell to Nuru, and then to Yasmin. "... So long as he can provide plans for the survival of our colony... and if this bellowing shell plan actually _works..._ he may return."

With a heavy, relieved sigh, Nuru dropped down to one knee and let his head bow down, both paws gripping onto his staff. Naysun laughed as she knelt down and hugged Nuru from behind, also relieved. Yasmin smiled and clapped her paws together. "Oh, Father,_ thank--!_"

"_**However...**_" All eyes, seeing or not, turned to Khairi as he set the shell down in front of Nuru. Naysun swallowed and bit her lower lip as she watched him. "... If this shell does _not_ provide the protection you said it does... if we lose _one_ meerkat to it's fault... I'll personally see to it, that _you_ will be the next." Nuru looked up at Khairi... and then nodded once, his eyes closed in humility. "And if it _does_ work... so long as Sylvester, Yasmin, and Naysun remain alive... you will _not_ become leader of this mob."

"... Yes, Father..." Nuru nodded with his head bowed low and his voice soft. And with that, Khairi, Sengbe, and Sengbe's spies returned underground to the safety of the tunnels. Sly sighed as he picked up the shell and dusted the dirt off of it. Yasmin and Naysun helped Nuru back to his feet. "... Well, at least I'll be warm for at least _one_ night," Nuru softly mused to himself.

"You'll be warm _every_ night," Sly returned as he looked to Nuru, who turned his blind eyes to look at him. "You're important to the colony, to your sisters... we'll help you with the planning so you can stay with us."

"... Heh... meerkats need each other to survive, after all..." With a soft exhale, he began to walk forward, swinging his staff from side to side to make sure he was not going to trip over something. Sly watched after him with a soft smile, a little relieved that things would be getting back to normal. Naysun ran after Nuru so she could help him find a place to sleep, most likely with her. Yasmin stepped up to Sly... and gave him a peck on the cheek. Sly blushed softly as he watched her go by. The expression on her face told him that the kiss was in appreciation, not of fondness that he would normally be given from her.

_... She's grown up..._ Lightly rubbing the cheek that had been kissed, Sly followed Yasmin to the tunnel entrance, carrying the shell, which would lead them to their survival and then the Nunda, under his arm.

_To be continued..._

Yay, the flashback is over! Next time, we're back to the present! See you soon!


	35. Progress

Eh, there's not much to say. La-La Land Population in my home: 1. Well, at least now we can get back into the swing of things. And now back to the present! 

Chapter 35:

"... A couple years later the Outlanders moved back to Pride Rock, and we thought the Outlands would be the perfect place to move to permanently..." Just as Sly had been telling the tale of Nuru's banishment and return to Timon and Pumbaa, Nuru had decided to do the same for Shani, once she had discovered his secret. The two of them sat across from each other, Nuru's thick bangs now covering his eyes and the scars that blinded him, and Shani hanging on his every word. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that all this time, Nuru couldn't see, even though he acted like he could... "I thought of the idea of using the termite mounds and more shells to create an even louder sound, one that would scare off more than just hyenas. _No one_ would come near us..."

Shani's eyes widened slightly when she realized what he talking about. "... The _Nunda?_"

Nuru nodded once with a soft grunt. "We constructed more than one so it would face different directions, and not sound _exactly_ like the other. The _Nundas_ kept us safe until that day last year, when the hyenas decided to fight their fears and found us out. We were caught off-guard, otherwise we wouldn't have lost so many..." Nuru sadly smirked as he rubbed the scar on his right ankle with his paw. "I was lucky Yasmin was there to spook the hyena that had me by the foot, and we both made it back to safety inside the cave. Yes, this scar _is_ real... but it doesn't cause me to limp for real."

"Then why--?" Shani began, squinting her eyes in confusion.

"So I won't be suspected. I can't work in the digging crew because I can't see where I'm or anyone else is going, and that would raise suspicions from Kano and Kali, who tend to supervise. If I have a limp that would give me an excuse to why I can't work in the tunnels, that I can't walk without my staff. I've been put on sentry duty so that it would seem like I can do something other than be a nest tuber, even though I can't see. But if I don't do something that requires eyesight, Kano and Kali will find out there's something wrong with me. They'd find out the truth and likely kill me, and that means my sister would be left alone... and I can't do that to her. I promised her I wouldn't leave her again. So I _have_ to keep up the act, for her sake."

Shani cupped her paws in front of her mouth, her eyes misting as she felt her heart twist. Nuru is such a good brother to Naysun, willing to put his own safety at risk to protect her, to keep her happy. Sure, they may disagree on some things, but they're there for each other. It was then that Shani realized how much she suddenly missed her _own_ brother, Kito. Kito, the one who wanted to prove he could be a protector to the colony just like his father and grandfather. He already proved he could be a protector when he protected his sister from an arrogant meerkat who wanted her as a mate. He was there for her... Shani sniffled and rubbed the salty tears that rolled out of her eyes.

Nuru raised a brow when he heard her sniffling. "Are you crying again?" Shani cried the first time after Nuru had told her about Khairi banishing him from the colony, which, he silently admitted, he found a little touching. But he hoped that it wasn't for pity.

Shani shook her head as she dried her eyes and the fur on her cheeks. "Mm-mm... I was just thinking about someone I left back at the oasis. I wonder what he's doing now..." She softly chuckled as she looked around the small shelter they had taken when they escaped from the cobra. "Probably exercising with Bango and Morake and wearing them out as usual. He's so full of energy lately and..." Her eyes turned back to Nuru, who was facing her and had his face positioned as if he was staring at her. She nervously blushed and chuckled, rubbing her paws together. "Sorry... you're probably not interested in hearing about him..." She cleared her throat and straightened her back. "So um, did you and Khairi ever make-up?"

"We barely spoke five words to each other since I had returned to the colony," Nuru replied with a few shakes of his head. "And I wasn't there when he died soon after the massacre. He didn't forget our little agreement before he went though, about if we lost a meerkat to the _Nunda's_ failure." He grimaced as he turned his face to the side so he wouldn't be looking at Shani. "Naysun tried to protect me, saying a hyena had caught me. But of course Sengbe stepped in and said otherwise." Shani softly gulped as she clenched her paws into fists, anxious to hear what happened next. "As soon as Father passed on Sengbe told me that he would take care of me after he found Sly. But then he died from his injuries while trying to save him and Timon." Shani softly exhaled, relieved by that. She hadn't been so caught up in a story since she was a pup, when Timon's storytelling of his 'adventures' still captivated her, before she believed them to be lies to make her father look good. "After all that's happened, Yasmin decided we should move on and abandon the _Nunda._ We've kept a few of the shells in case she ever changed her mind. She never agreed to Father's decisions, so my 'sentencing' never fell through. So, until the bosses came, we've been living fairly comfortably... except my sisters never stopped thinking about Sly."

Taking a deep breath and exhale, Shani rubbed her forehead, amazed by Nuru's story. "It's so much to take in... I still can't get over the fact that you've been _blind_ all this time. Is that why you've been so tense around me, because you were worried that I'd find out?"

"_Hey._ I'm _not_ tense... I'm just terribly, terribly _alert,_" Nuru glared at her through his thick bangs, and then he leaned back against the rock that was covering the exit, folding his arms over his chest. "And, yes... that was part of the reason."

She frowned, "And the other part being that I'm a rogue, right?" A nod from Nuru caused Shani to furrow her brow at him, and exhaled deeply, her face reddening. "Nuru... get it through that _**thick**_ _**skull**_ of yours... I am _**not**_ like those other rogues!" The annoyance in Shani's voice caused Nuru to grimace and press his back further against the rock he was leaning against. Shani rose to her feet and paced in front of him, motioning things with her paws, even though Nuru couldn't see them, but it would give her something to express her feelings. "Sure, I've been on edge, but that's because ever since I found out normal meerkats don't drink coconut milk or bungee jump I've been dying to find out what they _do_ do! I _don't_ want to fight, I _don't_ want to hurt anyone, and I _don't_ want to take over the colony like those two _**brutes**_ did! All I want is to know where my parents and grandparents came from... is that so wrong?" Nuru watched as she paced, listening to her feet shifting the dirt beneath them so that he knew where she was, and frowned a little, as if he had been wronged. Guilt began to settle in when he heard her words were beginning to shake. "They wouldn't tell me back home, so I _had_ to find someone who would... I thought I could get that from Yasmin, but... _Ohhh,_ but you don't _care,_ do you?" She stopped pacing and looked away from him, folding her arms over her chest as she fought not to start crying again. "I'm still just a rogue to you..."

There was a very long, uncomfortable moment of silence in that space, neither sure how to break it at first. Finally... "... I'm tired of acting like someone I'm not..." Shani's ears twitched when she heard Nuru break the silence, and then she shifted her eyes towards him. He was slouching forward, brushing his bangs back over his head and lightly ruffling them, his eyes cast to the ground. "For the past three months I've had to pretend I knew what the bosses look like when we first met, which way the birds flew when they didn't make a sound, what kind of animal came to attack us when they're identifiable by their markings and not their smells... If I screw up once, I'd make my sister cry. That's why we have to get rid of them soon, so I don't have to pretend I can see, which I haven't since I was a year old. Timon helped us before, so maybe he can help us again. We need him, and..." He sighed, and then he shifted his eyes to look up at Shani, who wore a sorrowful face. "We can't find him without you. So no... you're _not_ just a rogue to me, or to any of us. Right now you're the only hope we have of getting back to normal."

"... When you put it like that, I-- I feel so guilty now..." Shani admitted as she sat down in front of Nuru, brushing the mist from her eyes and clutching the fur on her chest. "I shouldn't have asked you for a week of lessons when you need my father's help so--"

"_Your father?_" Shani gasped and covered her mouth with both paws, even though it was too late to take back what she just slipped out. She looked up at Nuru hesitantly as he looked at her with a light smirk. "So Naysun was right..."

Shani gulped as her paws slipped from her lips and onto her lap. "... Y-You mean you knew?"

"Sort of," he replied as he allowed his bangs to fall back over his eyes and tapped a finger on his knee. "Naysun said you resemble Timon's mate Zuri, so she thought you might be their daughter. That's the main reason they brought you here. Since Naysun and Hafiz didn't tell me about that when they left me alone with you yesterday, I moved you so you couldn't find your way to the tunnels, and to keep you safe from the bosses if they found you. But at least it worked out, using that 'lost scout' story and 'leading' you to your new home, and now they think you've always been a part of the colony."

"... What'll you do with me after the week's up, Nuru?" The older meerkat blinked when Shani had brought that up. "You guys are only letting me live with you for a week, and then I'll tell you who can tell you the way to the oasis. When the bosses are gone, are you going to chase me off and hope that I find another colony that'll accept me? Because I'm _not_ going back to the oasis."

Nuru grimaced as he stared at Shani, unsure how to reply at first. Before he couldn't _wait_ to have the week end and to have her leave, but now that she knows about his secret... "It's not my place to decide that; it'll be Naysun's decision. When we regain control of the colony, Naysun will have to take over, as it's Khairi's law that I can't take over so long as she's still alive. But I think we can both assume that until the time comes, you'll be safe." Shani looked at him, a little worried, but she nodded in reply, for a moment forgetting that he couldn't see it. "Y'know, we told you before that female rogues are a threat out here. You wouldn't last long out there... so you might want to consider making up with Timon."

"_He_ doesn't want to make up with me..." Shani huffed as she furrowed her brow and folded her arms stubbornly over her chest. "So long as I have these instincts he won't consider me his daughter."

"He _said_ that?" Nuru quickly raised his brows in shock.

"No, but that's what he's _thinking,_ I know it..."

Frowning at that note, Nuru raised his paw up, hesitating once before he placed his paw on the top of her head. Shani blinked when she felt it and looked at him, curious. "You can't know what your father is thinking... it's not possible. From what I've heard about him Timon doesn't seem like the type to say that kind of thing. He cares about his pups. He would've run away from the _Nunda_ if he didn't think that Kito was in danger. Could he think any less of his daughter, even though she's been acting odd?"

After a moment of silence Shani lowered eyes and bowed her head, a little humbled that she could think so ill about her father. But after what he said... but then things could be said in the heat of the moment, even though _she_ meant what she said. "... Maybe... _Maybe_ I'll talk to him when he comes here... but I'm not promising I'm going back with him."

"Good girl..." Nuru began to pull his paw away from Shani's head, but then he stopped himself, as if a thought had occurred to him. Instead of removing it, he began to slowly drag it down to Shani's face. This surprised Shani, who had frozen in place. She wasn't sure what to expect or what he was actually doing, so she just stayed still. Nuru could sense her nervousness and lightly exhaled. "Relax, pup... I just wanna see what you look like... Close your eyes for a second..." She did as she was told, but she was still nervous. She gulped and lightly shivered as she felt his paw explore her face. He lightly ran his paw over her face, feeling each dimple and groove, every feature and shape that could be felt. He moved his paw back to the top of her head, and then, keeping his paw level, brought his paw and tapped it against his chin just above his mouth to see how tall she was. Satisfied, he nodded to himself and gave a faint smile. "... I guess your mother must be quite pretty..."

Shani reopened her eyes, which widened in surprise at Nuru's compliment, causing her to blush. She didn't know whether to be flattered or what to think at all... but it was the first time Nuru had said something to her in a nice way, and for that she gave him a small smile. "Ummm... thank you..." She then cleared her throat and stood, dusting the dirt from her paws and legs. "Ha-hasn't it been long enough that we should be heading back, Nuru?" she changed the subject.

Nuru turned his eyes to his left shin and lightly rubbed it. It didn't ache as much as it did when he hit it two hours ago, but it still hurt. "Well... I could probably stand on it, but I don't think I could walk on it for very long. _Hmph,_ just as well; if I was seen walking without my staff the bosses would get suspicious, especially if I'm injured in my other leg."

"... So even if you leaned your weight against me, we're gonna have to wait until your leg feels better before we head back?"

"That's about the size of it," Nuru replied with a click of his tongue. He wrinkled his brow as he heard Shani move around him and heard her pushing the rock away from the entrance, letting in fresh air and a faint hint of light. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I can't wait that long..." Shani looked back at him as she began to climb out of the space. "I'm gonna get Naysun and Hafiz to help me carry you back... or else I can just grab one of the coconut shells and push you back in that."

Furrowing his brow, Nuru reached back and quickly grabbed at the air in an attempt to pull her back in. He missed a few times before he caught the end of her tail and said, "Shani, _don't!_" Shani softly gasped and paused when he said her name for the first time. Not "rogue", not "pup"... but "Shani." She was about to ask if her ears were deceiving her when Nuru yanked her back into the tunnel by her tail, causing her to land hard on her rump. She softly growled and rubbed her seat as she glanced at Nuru, who was folding his arms over his chest. "You won't be able to find your way back to the colony by yourself--"

"And _you_ could?" Shani returned dryly. She gulped when Nuru leaned down to her, seeming to be glaring at her.

"Bite your tongue. How do you think I knew where to find this shelter when I can't _see?_ I happened to bump into that rock--_literally,_ of course," he grumbled as he rubbed his left shin, "and I used the texture of the rock to see what's where. That's how I find my way around: feeling the landmarks to find places and others. Usually I have someone else with me, someone from the colony, and they help me find it." He exhaled and brushed part of his bangs back, revealing a scarred eye to Shani. "Besides, it's not exactly _safe_ for you to go out there by yourself."

Shani grimaced, but she knew it was true. She'd just get lost or get in more trouble out there... especially if that cobra was still around. But what else was there to do besides waiting? "... That bush we stopped by earlier is nearby, right?" Nuru raised his visible brow, and then he nodded. Shani pursed her lips, thinking... and then she nodded. "OK. Stay here, I'll be right back." She moved around Nuru and began to crawl back out of the cavity. Nuru began to reach out to her, but then he stopped himself. Surely she could find her way back from the bush and make it back here... it's not that far out of the way. Whatever the reason, she wants to go, so he sat back down and allowed his bangs to fall back over his eyes as she climbed back to the surface.

_Some time later..._

Naysun had managed to get herself out of work early so she could take Shani off of Nuru's hands. She hurried because she was worried of what Nuru would do if he was left alone with her for too long. Would he try to do something like he did yesterday? No, he knows who she is and what she can do for the colony now. He wouldn't risk that. He wants things to get back to normal just as much as everyone else. So Naysun's real burning question was, how well are they getting along now? Poking her head out of the hole, she took a quick look around. No one was topside aside from the sentry, perched up high in the tree Nuru uses. As Naysun climbed out into the open, she called up to the sentry, "Do you see Nuru and Shani from up there?"

"I haven't seen them for a while!" the sentry replied as she turned in a circle, taking another look into the horizon. "About three hours, actually!"

"_Hours?_ That's not a good sign..." Naysun felt ill to her stomach as she thought of the possibilities that might have occurred within three hours... none of which were very comforting. She put a paw to her chest to steady her breathing, as she was feeling a little faint. "Calm down... Nuru wouldn't jeopardize this... he _wouldn't..._"

The sentry looked down at Naysun, wondering what she was muttering. After a moment, she simply rolled her eyes and shook her head as she looked back out to the grasslands. Suddenly she noticed something approaching, and raised both of her brows. "We've got company!" Naysun snapped back to reality with a soft gasp and turned to where the sentry was looking. Indeed, she did see a figure approaching them, which appeared to be a meerkat pulling something behind him. She took a few steps forward and squinted, shielding the sun from her eyes with her paw. When they came closer, she could make out that it was Shani, dragging something behind her. With a relieved sigh Naysun began to ran towards her.

Shani was gritting her teeth as she pulled a vine over her shoulder, which was tied to three broken branches from the dying bush Nuru had brought her to earlier this morning. Nuru was sitting on a bed of grass and straw that were laid out on the branches for a more comfortable ride, as Shani was the one pulling him along back to the colony. Shani stopped to catch her breath, leaning forward and panting. "How could Kito _do_ this for hours on end?" she asked herself. "He can't have _that_ much energy..."

"To wear out a warthog and a cheetah, he must have," Nuru slightly mused, causing Shani to grimace. He clicked his tongue when he heard no sound, and looked over his shoulder at her. "We should be near the colony now..."

"_Shani!_" Shani and Nuru's ears twitched as Naysun raced to meet up with them, slowing down when she saw what Shani was dragging behind her. Feeling sick to her stomach again, Naysun rushed over to Nuru and knelt down to him. "Nuru! Are you all right? What happened? Why are you being pulled along on branches?" she asked quickly, barely having pauses between her sentences.

"Because he's too heavy for me to carry," Shani joked with a half-chuckle, and then she quickly cleared her throat. "Of course he's pretty heavy to pull, too..."

Nuru gave her a bit of a look with a small grin, and then he turned back to Naysun. "I hit my shin on a rock and lost my staff, that's all. Nothing that won't heal. I just need to rest for a few more hours and we didn't want you to worry." Naysun sighed in relief when she heard that it wasn't anything serious. But she did worry, and so she gently hugged her brother, happy that he was safe. Nuru returned the hug with one arm as he leaned his weight on the other to keep upright. Shani softly smiled at the two of them, feeling a bit of satisfaction that the brother and sister were together again. After a moment Nuru released Naysun and cleared his throat. "You'd better help Shani pull me back to the tunnel before she passes out. Then we can get back to my nest."

"... W-_Wait,_ you're calling her _'Shani'_ now?" Naysun asked, squinting her eyes in confusion, as before Nuru would only call Shani "rogue."

Nuru shrugged, "Well, that is her _name,_ isn't it? We got to know each other a little better before we got tired of waiting for my leg to heal. So I can tolerate her a little better." He gave a light flick of his bangs at that, to which Naysun widened her eyes at. She knew what that gesture meant, and she was a little surprised that he would tell her such a thing.

Nevertheless, Naysun moved back around to stand behind Shani, taking hold of part of the vine. As they drug Nuru back towards the safety of the tunnel, Naysun looked at the back of Shani's head and lightly smirked, "You made a lot of progress already..." Shani lightly blinked... and then she grinned. She was sure Naysun wasn't referring to meerkat lessons, but about getting along with Nuru. Although it wasn't her top priority to understand Nuru better, it was satisfying nonetheless. Perhaps now that there's not as much tension between them, they can become friends. If all goes well...

_To be continued..._


	36. Splitting Up

Yeah, I've done it again… sorry, guys, but I guess I haven't had the energy to do a lot of work on these chapters lately. Maybe I'm overly stressed or something? Ahhh, who knows? Could be because I'm near to where I don't have most of the stuff planned out again. Could be both for all I know. Then again, I actually wrote this whole chapter during the course of the day (April 11th), and I tried to upload it the same night, but I kept getting some kind of system error from FF.N through the next few days. So, it's finally up on the 15th. Longer wait than I would like... Oh yeah, almost forgot, I got fan art from Shuggie! You can view it on her deviantART website, the link is also in my profile. She did a very good job. BTW, if I happen to slip between past- and present-tense throughout this chapter, forgive me. I'm involved in an RPG that uses present-tense action, and sometimes I've been known to put it into my writings. I hadn't noticed too many before and tend to overlook them, so I'm sorry if that happens again too often here. If it gets too bad, I may opt for a Beta Reader. And now, let's see if I can't get this rolling again, neh? Here we go again! 

Chapter 36:

"What's the matter, your arms broken? Hold me up a little higher, would ya?"

"Forget it, Timon! Any higher and you'll be paying the medical bills for my broken back!"

"What are _you_ complaining about, Uncle Sly? At least _you're_ not the one on the bottom!" Kito growled as Sly stood on his shoulders while Timon was standing on top of Sly's, and he was trying to keep them all evenly balanced so they would not have a rather nasty fall. Timon was on top, shielding the afternoon sun from his eyes as he looked out onto the horizon of the grasslands. "Hey, why _am_ I on the bottom of this Leaning Tower of Pinheads anyway? Why couldn't we just find a rock or something to stand on?"

Timon glanced down at his son, who was at the bottom, and replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Because 1: you volunteered, and 2: with the grass this tall we can't tell where the rocks are…" He frowned when he heard Sly mutter something under his breath, but chose to ignore it as he returned his gaze to the grasslands.

"Well, hurry up and find a tree or a rock or something, would ya? You guys are heavy!" Kito grunted as he fought against his buckling knees to keep the tower of meerkats upright and balanced.

Timon shook his head with a light smirk. "Kito, we're only 2 pounds each… clearly, you need to work out more." Kito almost laughed out loud at Timon's remark, but instead he bit his tongue. Before he turned a year old, even before he began to feel the urges, Kito had used any kind of method he could think of to strengthen his muscles, and then passing them off as playing or rehearsal for a show for the pups. Running, pulling and lifting heavy objects… he was already stronger, but now for some reason he had this extra energy that was nagging him to do even more. But that only urged him on, whatever he could do to prove he could become the next Great one, just like his father and grandfather. Perhaps he was feeling a little tired or else he could easily hold two adult meerkats on his shoulders… not that he had ever _tried_ before, of course.

Sly grimaced as he turned his eyes up to his brother, small beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. "Remind me again why we let Pumbaa go off on his own and we're forced to look like morons?"

"Can I put you guys down first before we go back to that?" Kito growled as his arms began to visibly shake. Timon frowned again with a roll of his eyes, and then he nodded. _Clearly some meerkats don't have the tolerance for this kind of weight… unlike Pumbaa, at least._ If their daughters had not split up, then Timon and Pumbaa would not have split up either…

_Two hours ago…_

"… So, Nuru was allowed to stay, provided he could continue to be useful to the colony and its survival. It was his shell that eventually lead to the _Nundas_ in the Outlands, and that kept us safe for a long time." Sly had just finished telling the story of Nuru's banishment and his return to the _Makunga_ Mob to Chiku's sounder and to Timon, Pumbaa, and Kito, who up until then had no idea that Yasmin's elder brother was, in fact, blind.

"Wow, what a story, Mr. Sly!" one of the seven piglets chirped.

"Tell us another one, _pleeeeeease?_" another smiled, wagging her tail.

Eidi chuckled as she leaned down to the piglets and gave them soft nudges. "Now-now, children, Uncle Pumbaa and his friends didn't come here for story time. Let's give the adults some alone time and I'll tell you the story of how Auntie Sabir used to pull pranks on your Auntie Eidi." Squeals of giggles erupted from the piglets as Eidi led them away from the group, leaving Chiku alone with Pumbaa and the meerkats.

Sly smirked with amusement at the young warthogs and then he shook his head. _Kids are great…_ Timon sat across from Sly on the opposite side of Pumbaa's snout, his face long and dry as he tapped his fingers on his knee. "… Soooo let me get this straight…" he began calmly, which grabbed Sly's attention. "There's a distinct possibility that my daughter is trying to find a colony that has a _blind_ meerkat who has a _severe_ dislike of rogues and prefers to strike first?"

"And… you're worried about that, Dad?" Kito, on the ground next to Pumbaa, asked as he craned his neck to look up at his father. "If he can't see then Shani can dodge his attacks--"

"Actually," Sly interrupted, "Nuru's other senses had been heightened ever since he became blind, especially his sense of smell and hearing. He could make out the faintest sound and know when someone is trying to sneak up on him and he could smell a rogue even before they make a peep."

Timon's face seemed to pale at that mention. "Oh,_ yeah,_ I feel _so_ much better now…" he replied sarcastically.

"Well, _I_ don't, Timon," Pumbaa spoke up, clearly not catching onto his best friend's sarcasm. Both Timon and Sly narrowed their eyes slightly and turned to face the warthog with their brows arched. "Shani could get hurt, or _worse!_ At least Barika has Sabir with her to keep her safe, but who's looking out for Shani?"

"A regular ray of sunshine, ain't he?" Sly remarked to Timon in a monotone, who nodded once. He softly exhaled as he ruffled his hair, and then he turned back to Pumbaa. "At least we know Barika's safe, and that's good, so we can stop worrying. Now we should probably get back to finding the _Makunga_ Mob." He then turned to Chiku. "River on the east coast, right? I guess it's the best place to start the search again. And besides, that galago's tree is to the east… and she said the mob should be somewhere nearby."

Chiku nodded with a tired sigh. "Yes… do be careful, all of you… and, Pumbaa?"

"Yes?" the red warthog answered.

The elder warthog gave him a tired smile. "Be sure… when you return to the oasis… to have Jina come pay us a visit. I feel my part in the Circle of Life is drawing to a close, so this may be the last time we'll speak to each other on good terms…" Pumbaa gulped once as Timon and Sly began to climb up his face to get onto his head and back. A thought had suddenly come to his mind… if something were to happen to Barika now before he was able to see her, he would never have a chance to speak with her again... a thought that made his stomach uneasy.

Kito stood and stretched his legs out, preparing to continue the walk. He had long since regained his breath and was ready to burn off some more of that never-ending supply of energy he had been having lately. Stretching his arms over his head, he released a satisfied groan and jogged in place. "OK, I'm ready to go! East coast, here we come!"

"You heard him, my porcine pal!" Timon grinned as he took hold of Pumbaa's ears, and then he gave them a tug. "Giddy-up!" But Pumbaa remained where he was, as if he hadn't felt the yanking. He looked like he was thinking. Timon only sneered as Pumbaa once again failed to start walking… and it wasn't the first time he refused to go. "Let's be getting back on the road again? Onto the trail we blaze? … OK, _you_ pick the starting phrase…" he huffed.

Sly blinked slightly as he sat on Pumbaa's back, leaning to the side to try to take a peek around front. "… Is that smoke coming out of his ears?"

With a yelp Timon released the warthog's ears and quickly patted his paws on his stomach. "_Smoke?_ _**Fire!**_ Chiku, get some water, **_quick!_**" Sly slapped a paw over his eyes, forgetting Timon tends to take metaphors literally.

"No-no-no… I mean it looks like he's thinking…"

Pumbaa frowned and glanced up at Timon, who was standing on his head and stopped behaving like his friend's head was on fire. "I'm sorry, Timon, but now I'm worried about Barika again… what if something happens and I can't see her again? I know it's important to find Shani, too, but…" He whimpered and lowered his head, unsure what he should actually do. The group stood in silence for a while, unsure which way they should restart their search… to go to the east to look for Shani, or to follow Sabir and Barika's trail. Finally…

"… Why don't we just split up?" Kito spoke up. Pumbaa and the meerkat brothers looked down at Kito, a bit surprised by his suggestion. Kito nervously smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we're trying to find two girls who split up somewhere along the way and we can't find both of them if we're in one group. I mean, we have a pretty good idea where they both are, but we can't decide which one we should find first." He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean… it might be easier, but we won't have the same protection if Uncle Pumbaa isn't around…"

"… He has a point," Sly nodded once as he looked to Timon.

"And I _do_ want to make sure Barika and Sabir are all right..." Pumbaa hesitantly agreed. "I hate to admit it, but I'd be too preoccupied about finding Barika than I would Shani… not that I'm _not_ worried about Shani, too!"

Timon lightly furrowed his brow and folded his arms over his chest. "Well… it means more of a work-out for the rest of us, but I guess we're all agreed." He walked down onto Pumbaa's snout and smiled at his friend. "All right, Pumbaa… you go follow Sabir and Barika's trail while Sly, Kito, and I head to the river on the east coast to look for the colony. If you can't find us there in two days, we'll all meet up at Pride Rock. Hopefully that'll give us enough time to find and bring back our girls."

Pumbaa smiled… but then he quickly frowned. "You mean I have to look for them _alone?_"

"I'm sorry, Pumbaa," Sly began as he patted Pumbaa's back, "but Timon needs me around to keep his head on straight when we find another colony… you've seen what could happen if I don't calm him down." Pumbaa lightly grimaced as he nodded and remembered how Timon had tried to talk to the galago Komba, among other things.

Kito craned his neck to look up at his uncle Pumbaa. "And Dad and Uncle Sly still need me to use my heightened instincts and senses to see how Shani might react, if she's not at the colony already. Sorry we can't help."

"Oh, he'll do fine, son! Right, Pumbaa?" Timon smiled as he patted Pumbaa's tusk and then jumped down onto the ground. Sly slid down Pumbaa's side to reach the ground and landed next to Kito, dusting himself when he did.

"Uhhh… yeah! I just have to follow Chiku's directions and follow my nose!" Pumbaa smiled down to the three meerkats. "Are you gonna be all right without me, Timon? We've never really split up like this before…"

Timon waved him off with a grin. "Hakuna Matata, buddy. With six eyes on the look-out, everything will be just gravy. Good luck finding them!" he said as he started to lead Kito and Sly away from Pumbaa and Chiku, heading towards the east.

"You, too! I'll see you soon!" Waving his friends off, Pumbaa then turned back to Chiku, and began to ask her where he should start looking…

_Present…_

Kito rotated his arm as he rubbed his shoulder, trying to get a crick out of it. "Now I'm starting to regret saying we should split up to look for them, _especially_ if you're going to try to stand on our shoulders to see what's ahead…" he gave a glare to his father Timon, who was sitting across from him and rubbing his feet.

"It _was_ a good idea, Kito," Sly said as he leaned back to get a crick out of his back, which he eventually got and shuddered, satisfied. "We have a slightly better chance at finding them now…" He turned his gaze over to Timon and raised a brow. "It was your _father's_ idea of making a tree out of us and giving us these aches…"

Timon furrowed his brow and snorted. "I'm sorry, but all complaints must be submitted to me in writing… anyway, _you two_ didn't think it was a bad idea before we did it…" He sighed an annoyed sigh as he stood and dusted his arms off. "Listen, let's not argue right now. We're rested up so let's go to that tree I saw ahead and see what we can find up there. We'll have a better view of the area then and we'll see how far the river is from here."

"Why don't we just keep heading east? Eventually we're bound to hit a river," Kito asked as he stretched his arms over his head, slightly wincing when his shoulder popped. "Then we just ask around, right?"

Sly stood and dusted himself off, and then he folded his arms over his chest. "It's better to have a bird's eye view of things, Kito. I haven't found any familiar landmarks I can use as a map, so that's the next best thing. We could walk right into a jackal's mealtime if we're not careful, or we could get trampled by a stampede of gazelles for a lioness' hunt."

"_Please_ don't mention _'lioness'_ and _'hunt'_ in the same sentence… _or 'jackal'_ or _'stampede'_ for that matter!" Timon shuddered as he stepped forward, putting his paws in-between a group of grass blades and parting them. Ahead, he only saw more grass. "I still have nightmares…" Sly grimaced and nodded, agreeing that he tends to have the same type of nightmares. Kito only blinked… what did the lionesses have to do with anything? _… Well, maybe it's nothing,_ he thought. Shaking his head, he and his uncle Sly followed Timon through the tall grass, heading towards the tree that laid ahead. And so the search for Shani and Barika begins anew, the reunion seeming to be inevitable…

_To be continued…_


	37. Familiar Face

Hey, look! It hasn't been a full month! _Yay!_ I'll try to get off my duff and do more... we're getting close to a part in the story I've been wanting to do since I first started, basically one of (if not _the_) first scene I dreamed up before I typed up the first chapter. So, Kano has been around for a while, albeit only about two chapters thus far, but now methinks it's probably about time for us to meet Kali, neh? I'm sorry if this chapter feels rushed at anytime... I need to get back in the swing of things. Anyway... Let's do it. 

Chapter 37:

During the time that Timon, Sly, and Kito were searching for the Makunga Mob without Pumbaa, Shani was wondering through the mob's tunnels, so that she could remember which way led to where. Yesterday her head was being jammed with so much information that it was amazing that her head did not swell. So much had happened in the last two days, and she had a feeling it was only the beginning of something more. With a tired sigh Shani stopped walking when she approached a fork in the tunnel. She massaged her temple with another sigh, trying to remember where they both led to. "OK… did the left lead to the latrine or to the south wing? Did the right lead to the second level or to where they mix up the clay? _Ohhhh,_ _why_ couldn't they wait to give me the tour when my head didn't hurt so much?" she asked herself with a grumble.

"They were in a rush, I guess." Shani's ears twitched when she heard a voice approaching from behind. She recognized the voice, so she was not worried that it could be a meerkat she had yet to meet. Nuru, with a new staff in his hand, stepped up next to Shani and looked ahead, as if he could see the fork in the road himself. "Let me guess… you're lost again, aren't you?"

"Yeah… I was a little tired and stressed out last night to remember the entire tunnel," she admitted with an embarrassed smile. "So much to take in and so many names to remember… If it were you--a _younger_ you--wouldn't you feel the same way?" She turned her head to look to the older meerkat, who put a paw to his chin, considering how he would have handled it all. After a moment he removed his paw from his chin and nodded with a soft grunt. Shani softly chuckled, feeling a little more at ease around Nuru, now that there was not as much tension between them. Now that she knew that he was blind, Nuru did not have to pretend that he could see in front of her, and he felt a little more relaxed. "So," Shani continued as she cleared her throat, "how's your leg? The one you hurt today, I mean."

Bending over a bit to rub his left shin, Nuru replied, "It's better. It only needed two more hours of rest, and Naysun to massage it."

"That's good to hear. … Speaking of Naysun, do you know where she is? I haven't seen her since we got back. I thought she was going to take me aside and teach me something…"

"It's possible she's gone to Yasmin's grave," Nuru softly snorted as he stood normally, tapping his fingers on the top of his staff. He softly sighed as he turned his blind eyes away from Shani. "I wish she wouldn't go there so often… she's punishing herself for what happened that day… wishing that she had taken her place when Kano…" He trailed off as he suddenly felt a sickening pain in his stomach, causing him to rub it in hopes to make it go away.

Shani lowered her eyes, feeling sorry that she somehow managed to bring up such a painful subject. It had only been three months since it happened, yet it still seemed so much fresher in the eyes of those who loved Yasmin the most, particularly her brother and sister. After a moment, Shani cleared her throat and thought it best to change the subject. "_So…_ how did you get your staff back? I would've thought that--"

Nuru arched a brow at Shani, unseen through his thick bangs. He was a little relieved that the younger meerkat had decided to change the topic for his sake, but he did not decide to show it. "Living out here with my condition, you think I _wouldn't_ keep a few extra staffs around in case something happened?" He turned an eye to her with a faint smirk. "That was the fifth staff I've lost this year alone…"

"You've lost _**five**_ staffs?" Shani's eyes widened as she turned to face him completely, her mouth gaping in shock. "_How_ could you have lost_** five**_ staffs already? Did you run into more of those 'snake' things?"

With a slight chuckle Nuru shook his head. "No, nothing like that… though it _was_ the first snake I've lost my staff to this year." Shani lightly gulped… had he done the same thing before? "Most of the time they're not strong enough sticks to be used as walking staffs… they would break or chip easily, or break over someone's back." Shani clamped one of her eyes shut and winced at the thought. Just imagining it left butterflies in her stomach. "… Let's move on," he cleared his throat, sensing her uneasiness.

"Please. … So where do these two ways lead to?" she gestured to the fork, relieved. With a soft sigh Nuru was about to step forward to feel his way around, but when he inhaled through his nose he stiffened, and then he sniffed the air. Shani stared at the back of his head, wrinkling her brow. "Nuru? What is it?" Nuru did not reply as he sniffed the air several more times, and then he softly growled as he turned around to face the opposite direction.

"What's the matter, Nuru, lost or something?" Shani's ears twitched at the new voice and froze. She recognized the voice just barely, as she had only briefly met him the night before. With a soft gulp Shani shifted her feet to turn her body towards the voice, where Nuru was facing. Standing before them with his arms crossed over his chest was a meerkat with dirty hazel-colored hair, the dirt giving it a hint of near green which nearly matched the color of his eyes, his fur lightly tanned. "You normally don't linger…"

Nuru forced a smile (albeit a _strained_ smile) and a chuckle as he leaned his weight against his staff, his shielded eyes sneering at the newcomer. "I don't linger, Kali... I'm only reminding our lost scout where the latrine is. It's nothing _you_ don't already know, so why don't you go find someone else to bother?"

"All right…" The meerkat called Kali lightly smirked as he stepped forward, unfolding his arms as he turned his gaze over to Shani, who seemed uneasy. "You know… we were never properly introduced last night." He was referring to when Naysun was showing Shani around the tunnel and Kali wanted to speak privately with Naysun, so Shani was handed over to Hafiz. Shani lightly groaned as Kali took her paw and held it close to his face. "As you already know, I'm called Kali."

"… Shani… my name is Shani…" she replied softly.

Upon hearing her name Kali brought the back of her paw to his lips and softly kissed it. "Shani… it means 'wonderful…' and I can already see that it suits you _very_ well…" He released her paw with a grin when he noticed he left her speechless. Shani _was_ speechless, and found herself blushing. From what she has seen so far Kali was much different than Kano, at least much less threatening. He didn't seem like anything she had imagined, like someone who would take part in Yasmin's death. Even when he leaned forward to nearly touch noses with her, he did not look threatening. "… You look familiar… are you _sure_ you're only a year old?"

"… V-Very s-s-sure…"

Nuru stood to the side as he listened to their exchange and the tone of Kali's voice, and it caused his blood to boil, his face reddening. He clenched his paw around his new staff tightly as he tried to calm himself down. "… Kali… quit flirting with her… it's embarrassing…"

Kali raised a brow as he turned an eye to look towards Nuru. "You're still here?" He put a paw on his hip as he leaned back away from Shani to turn to Nuru. "What's the matter, Nuru, is she too young for me? In my original colony my own parents were about four or five years apart."

"Like I care about age," Nuru scoffed. "I meant you're already trying to court my sister and now you're acting like she's nothing by flirting with a younger meerkat!"

"Who, _me?_" he pointed to himself, amused, and then he chuckled. "Flirting is _such_ a misleading word. Of course I plan to court Naysun… I only wanted to meet our lost scout, to see if she was as suitable as Kano described her to be." Nuru's brow deeply furrowed as he struggled to not lunge at Kali. "She really _does_ remind me of someone I once knew... too bad…"

Shani wrinkled her brow at Kali, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Who?"

She did not have the time to hear his reply when Nuru suddenly wrapped his paw around her wrist and began to pull her towards the right tunnel. "You'll have _all_ the time to chitchat later, pup. You've got work to do and I _don't_ want to be responsible for you being late. Kali, always a headache." Shani blinked and muttered a few objections as Nuru lead her down the tunnel. Kali stayed at the fork for a few moments, watching after them. With a soft snort he turned around and walked back the way he came.

When he was sure they were alone Nuru released Shani with a sigh and glanced back the way they came. Shani rubbed her wrist as she watched Nuru. "What was _that_ about?" she asked, confused. "He seemed nice enough…"

"He wasn't so nice when he beat me with my own staff when he and Kano came along," Nuru growled in return, ruffling his bangs and exposing his scarred eyes to Shani. "You have to be careful around the bosses, Shani... try to avoid being alone with either of them if you can." He turned to face her, his blind eyes staring at her. "They already seem to be too interested in you…"

"… What do you mean 'interested?'" Shani wrinkled her brow and tilted her head. "And while I'm thinking about it… what's flirting?" She blinked and tilted her head to the other side when Nuru narrowed his eyes at her and sighed.

"Doesn't even know what flirting is, I can't _believe--_ What did your parents _teach_ you?" Shani frowned in reply, even though Nuru could not see it. Sighing again he straightened his bangs back to normal, shielding his scarred eyes again. "Judging by what Kali just said Kano seems interested in you as a potential mate, even though you're quite a few years his junior."

Shani nearly choked on his words, appalled by the thought of herself and the intimidating mob boss. "_**What!**_ That creepy--? He's old enough to be my _grandfather,_ for the love of grubs! Oh, _that's it;_ I will _not_ be able to sleep tonight!" She shivered with disgust and rubbed her arms, trying to dismiss that disturbing thought. Nuru very faintly smirked, a little amused by her reaction. "A-And Kali…?"

Nuru shook his head with a furrowed brow and his eyes shut. "I'm not sure, but if Kano has his eye on you then I doubt Kali will get involved. He was just curious about you because apparently you remind him of someone he knew. But he's more focused on Naysun anyway." His paw clenched into a fist, which shook violently. "If Kali marries Naysun, the meerkat who was to take leadership after Yasmin, then he'll unknowingly take leadership of the colony away from us."

"What do you mean? Hasn't he _already--?_"

"He and Kano haven't officially taken over, not so long as my sister and I are still alive. We're not strong enough to challenge them ourselves and expected to win; otherwise we would've stepped forward some time ago. No, we need other methods to get rid of them before Kali tries anything. I just hope we can manage another week for Timon."

Shani stared at Nuru for a moment, feeling a little anxious herself. Although Kali seemed nice enough she could not picture the two of them together... "Doesn't Naysun have a say in it? Marriage is about _choice,_ isn't it?"

"Usually… but Kano and Kali are still clinging to the old ways of competitions for mating rights and picking their mates, whether they wanted to be or not."

"The females _didn't_ have a choice?" Shani frowned, offended. She already thought that the competitions were barbaric, but now hearing about how the males _chose_ their female partners? She felt so disgusted. "How could anyone be happy in a one-sided relationship?"

Feeling that this conversation was going to drag on a little longer, Nuru exhaled and sat down, leaning back against the wall. "Back then most of the males would pick their sweethearts as their mates, so most of the time they were happy. Other times… well, more often than not there were predators and the stronger males picked the best qualified females to bring the numbers back up. It was more of 'duty' than it was love. That's how it was with _my_ parents, at least, or that's what I was told."

Falling silent on that note, Shani sat down next to Nuru and looked down at her folded paws. "… So it's still like that?" She softly smiled when Nuru shook his head.

"The tradition died out, caused a lot of tension from the losers. And it was near the time when Scar was the King, and our numbers dwindled down even more. Since then… well, it just means more workers, more food gatherers, more sentries, and more tunnels." He brushed his bangs back briefly and sighed. "But I guess the bosses came from a couple of the few colonies that still clung to that tradition."

"Do you know why they became rogues?"

"No. Never thought to ask because I never cared for either of them, although most of us prefer Kali over Kano. But most of us believe that Kano was kicked out because of that temper of his; having lost it one too many times and taking it out on some poor soul. As for Kali…" Nuru shrugged.

Shani lightly tilted her head as she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them closer. "Is 'Kali' his real name?" she asked as she looked down at her toes.

Nuru wrinkled his brow, a bit taken aback by her question. He turned his head to face her. "Where did _that_ come from?"

"It's just… it's an odd name… I've never heard of it before…"

"… Well, as far as I know 'Kali' is not a proper name as it is a nickname, but I've never heard of a formal version of his name. It's what Kano has been calling him since they've been here, so that's what we've been calling him. It didn't matter to me much; otherwise I may have asked why he's no longer with his colony." He then arched a brow at Shani. "Why do you want to know?"

"It's just… him saying I _remind_ him of someone… it kind of worries me for reasons I don't know myself. I've never seen him before last night, and I'm pretty sure he hadn't seen me before. So who could I remind him of?"

"It could be anyone," Nuru replied as he put a paw on her shoulder after missing it a few times. "Probably someone from his old colony. It's probably nothing you should be worried about, so don't. … So, do you think you can find your way around from here?" A nod and an "mm-hmm" from Shani and Nuru rose to his feet, using his staff to help pull himself up. "Good… remember… don't be left alone with Kano or Kali… and I'll tell you what flirting is later."

Nodding again, Shani said, "OK… thanks, Nuru… for worring about me..." Nuru stood there for a moment, looking straight ahead, unsure of how to reply... so he did not. As she watched him disappear back down the tunnel they had walked from minutes before Shani looked back down to her feet, her mind still wondering about the second rogue boss of the colony. _Kali… Kali… I should know that name…_ _It's too familiar; like I've heard it somewhere--_ Shani's eyes suddenly opened wide as a thought had struck her and gasped. _Could it... no, it couldn't... there's... there's just no way! He couldn't be the same-- _

_"Hey, Ma? ... Whatever happened... to that guy you were supposed to marry... before you met Dad?"_

_"... When we moved here... he stayed behind."_

Softly, yet heavily panting, Shani stared at a spot on the ground, her vision of the meerkat boss she just met minutes ago melted away to a vision she was much more familiar with._ No... he... he _couldn't_ be... Makali...?_

_To be continued… _

So, now that I didn't say there was a secret in the first A/N, are you more surprised? _Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!_ It was during the developing/making of this story that I thought of bringing back Makali, Zuri's fiance from _Someone Like You,_ who had not been seen since then. Not many people (if any) had brought him up either, and I myself wondered what had become of him. I may have, at a time, thought of only having Kano take over the _Makunga_ Mob, but sometime I had thought of Makali and thought, "Hey... I hadn't said where he's _been_ all this time, so why not explain where he's been since the union? Take advantage of his absence and use it!" None of the meerkats had talked about where he's been, so I thought this would work. I just hope this was an OK place to reveal this little tidbit. Well, 'Kali' had been mentioned enough times, so I'm sure it was. I just didn't want it to be revealed soon after I reveal a _really_ juicy secret... but I'm _not_ saying what or when! _Nyeh!_ Until next time, have fun!


	38. Mud Hole Reunion

Hmm… well, we're getting closer to reuniting groups. Things are still being planned out and I'm also occupied with other projects, art-, friends-, and real life-wise. My faithful readers, I'll try hard to make sure this story is finished _before_ it's been online for two years. If anything, I may ask for opinions on some outcomes of the story from y'all. But don't start suggesting yet… wait until a few more chapters have been posted, 'kay? … Has it really been _**ten**_ chapters since we've visited with Barika? Ohhh, I'm _so_ _sorry,_ Rika! Until then, read on! 

Chapter 38:

By mid-afternoon that same day the sun was warming the Pride Lands with its golden rays. A gentle breeze swept through the leaves and blades of grass and offered some relief to many of the denizens, but it did not offer enough for many. Some took to the shade to cool themselves off. Others laid waiting in the river and ponds to cool themselves and, if they are a predator such as a crocodile, snatch their next unsuspecting meal trying to get a drink. For warthogs, there was _nothing_ more soothing and cooling than a roll and soak in a fresh mud hole; and Barika's aunt Sabir knew just where to find one. She was leading her hesitant niece to the mud hole she had in mind, already sweating from the heat of the day. Barika, while also sweating and quite warm, kept worrying about what the family back at the oasis would say when she revealed to them that Shani would not be coming home, how she would tell Sabir that it was a lost cause to look for her… She could not possibly think of enjoying the cooling sensation of mud.

"It's only a little bit further this way, Barika," Sabir interrupted her thoughts. She could not sense the uneasiness and regret emitting from the young warthog. "After we've cooled off for a while, then we can go back looking for Shani, all right?"

Barika felt sick to her stomach. She could not take much more of this... Even if it _did_ hurt, she _had_ to tell the truth of how she and Shani were really separated eventually… and she decided perhaps _now_ was as good a time as any. And then, maybe, she could go home and live the rest of her life. "Umm… Au-Aunt Sabir…? There's something… something I should tell you…"

Sabir lowered her nose to the ground and snorted a few times as she stepped forward, checking for the scent of other warthogs that may have passed through the area already. "What is it, dear?" Barika gulped loudly, unsure of how she should start to confess what happened. She had rehearsed what she wanted to say in her head, but now that she was trying to put them into actual words, well… After a moment of silence Sabir glanced back at her with a confused look on her face. "Go ahead."

"… Uh… you see… Aunt Sabir… … erm… … Shani and I… … no, Shani and me… ahhh… what I'm trying to say is--"

"Do you _smell_ that?"

The young warthog wrinkled her brow with a frown when she was interrupted by Sabir, who had raised her snout into the air and was sniffing. "… Actually, I was _trying_ to say--"

"No-no, Barika… _I'm_ asking if you smell something… it's very strong," Sabir replied as she rubbed the back of her hoof across her nostrils. Barika tilted her head, and then she raised her snout to the air and inhaled deeply… and then she coughed, realizing it was probably not a good idea to take such a strong sniff. "Exactly… and yet, it smells familiar…"

Recovering from the shock of the smell, Barika shook her head and took several small sniffs so she could take the smell in healthier doses. "… _Too_ familiar…" Following their noses the two warthogs continued to walk on ahead, towards the mud hole Sabir was leading them to. The smell had gotten even stronger, and they could clearly hear someone moving around in the mud, which squished with the movement. Their view was obstructed by a large rock which could be used to jump from into the hole.

Sabir sneered slightly as she began to step forward cautiously, silently urging Barika to stay put. Barika swallowed hard and crouched down low to the ground to stay hidden. The elder warthog crept forward slowly, one hoof in front of the other as she eased her way to peek around the rock. The closer she got, the stronger the smell and the more familiar it became. Soon the animal in the mud was humming some nonsense notes, which distinguished its gender as a male. Sabir was just about to peek around the rock to take a look at the animal in the mud, when she was suddenly snout to snout with a large and very muddy male warthog. The male did not see her coming, so when he brushed his snout against hers, he sheepishly grinned, "Whoops. Excuse me, ma'am…"

Such an unusually _polite_ male warthog. In fact, his politeness caused Sabir's eyes to widen in surprise. "Pumbaa? Is that _you_ under all that mud?" The male warthog was covered in so much mud it would be difficult to recognize him physically… but then, there _was_ his smell. Even masked in mud, it was unmistakable.

"… Sabir?" the warthog returned with a surprised blink. "Is this a trick? I couldn't have found you _already,_ could I?"

"Dad?" Barika's head and tail shot up from their hiding spots in the grass, her tail rapidly wagging from side to side. She jumped to her feet with renewed energy when she saw the muddy warthog. She had wallowed in enough mud holes with her family to recognize her own father covered in mud. She smiled, fighting the urge to cry as she reared back and sprang into a gallop. "Daddy!" Sabir saw this and stepped to the side, just in time for her niece to tackle Pumbaa, causing both to land and splash into the mud, covering them both. "Daddy, Daddy, _Daddy!_" Barika furiously nudged her face against Pumbaa, the warthogs' way of hugging without arms. "I missed you _so much!_"

Pumbaa quickly recovered from the tackle to return the nudging and to give his daughter a hug with his front legs, relieved that she was safe. "Barika! I'm so happy you're all right! We've been _so worried_ about you girls!"

"I'm _so_-so sorry, Daddy!" Barika pleaded, fighting not to cry. "But I just couldn't let Shani go off somewhere alone! I _had_ to keep her safe! But I couldn't help her, Daddy! I lost my best friend!" Pumbaa rested his chin on the back of her neck to try to comfort her, and she still fought not to shed her tears.

Sabir stepped into the mud on the opposite side of the hole, giving father and daughter enough space so they could bond again. "Pumbaa, you were looking for us?"

Pumbaa nodded, "Timon, Sly, Kito, and I were just with your family, and they said you and Barika were out here looking for Shani. I guess without Timon telling me to go _this_ way and _that_ way it didn't take as much time to find you. Besides, the sounder isn't terribly far away either."

"No, I suppose not… but you and Timon split up?"

"Timon and the others wanted to look for Shani near the east coast river, and I just _had_ to make sure you and Barika are safe… so have you two had any luck finding her?"

Sabir shook her head sadly as she eased herself into the mud. "We've been looking for her ever since yesterday afternoon… so far, we haven't found a trace of her. I'm getting worried, Pumbaa…"

"Hakuna Matata," the muddy red warthog smiled. "Timon and the others are looking for the _Makunga_ Mob, where we think Shani might be. You see--"

"The _what?_" Barika blinked and leaned back to look to Pumbaa, having never heard of the word before.

"The _Makunga_ Mob, Barika," Sabir spoke up, who was now rolling onto her back to bathe herself in the cooling mud. "They're the meerkat colony responsible for the _Nundas…_ a colony that seems to keep many secrets." She turned to look at Pumbaa with her brows raised. "Why do you think she's _there?_"

Pumbaa released Barika from his hug so he could resume packing mud onto himself to cool himself from the sun. "Because there was this bush baby who said she's seen her and she sent her to find the colony. That was sometime yesterday, so she must've found them by now."

"… _What?_" Barika's eyes opened as wide as they could, her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, and her breathing slowed. Surely, her ears _must_ be playing tricks on her… right? "When…? Daddy, when… did this baby bush… see Shani? A-A-And… are you _sure_ it-it was Shani?"

"_Bush baby,_ Barika, not baby bush," Pumbaa smiled and lightly rubbed his muddy cheek against hers. "And she said she didn't have a good enough look at her because she was sleepy, _but_ she said she was from an oasis and she was looking for a colony. … And furthermore, the meerkat mentioned _your_ name." Barika gasped softly and blinked, tears suddenly leaking from her eyes and rolled down her muddy cheeks. "It was sometime during the day yesterday, after you two were separated by the elephants. She was found and put into the bush baby's tree by Nuru, Yasmin's brother and a member of the _Makunga_ Mob. So we figure she's safe now."

Sabir sighed and smiled, looking relieved as she rolled onto her stomach. "That's very good news, Pumbaa. I was getting worried when we weren't finding any clues…"

"… Shani… Shani's_ alive…?_ She wasn't…?" Barika still couldn't believe her ears. She was now fully aware of her tears and smiled with a sob. "She _wasn't_ eaten… those croc-o-diles were lying… She's alive… my best friend is still alive. I'm so happy…"

"_**Crocodiles?**_" both Pumbaa and Sabir exclaimed. Barika suddenly froze and swallowed hard when she realized she had said that out loud. "_Barika…_" Sabir raised her brow skeptically, "_when_ did you come across crocodiles?"

The young warthog swallowed again and nervously smiled as she wiped her cheeks with her hoof. "_Umm…_ did I say crocodiles? What I meant to say was… _uh…_ elephants. Yeah, I thought _elephants_ ate Shani." She put on her best smile, but the two adults just stared disapprovingly at her.

"Elephants don't eat meerkats," Pumbaa said as he narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "They might accidentally step on them, but not eat them." He then gave Barika a light push with his snout. "Now tell us the truth, Barika…"

Barika swallowed a third time, turning to Sabir as if to ask her not to. But Sabir gave her a nod to tell the truth. Finding herself without a way out, Barika sighed and lowered her eyes with a sniffle. "… We were being chased by the elephants yesterday morning… and Shani told me to jump over the river to get away from them. We landed in the middle and I managed to swim over to the other side. Shani… she lost her grip and she ended up over the waterfall."

"_**Waterfall?**_" Sabir and Pumbaa gasped.

"But there was a branch she managed to grab, and I-I _tried_ to save her without looking down to see how high it was… because I still get nervous around high places. I slipped, and I tumbled down…" She swallowed again and sniffled, her voice weakening. "When I woke up, a crocodile told me that they saw something fall from the waterfall after me, and one of them probably ate it without telling anyone… so I thought they had eaten her…" Barika softly sobbed when she had to relive the devastation of losing her best friend, especially after she promised she would protect her. Pumbaa brushed his cheek against hers to make her feel better. "I managed to get away without getting hurt… and soon after that I found Grandma and my aunts…"

"So _that's_ what happened," Sabir said with sympathy. "And that's why you weren't so eager to go and look for her, isn't it?"

The young warthog nodded once as she was being comforted by Pumbaa. "Mm-hmm… I thought she was gone and we wouldn't be able to find her… I just wanted to go home, but I couldn't bring myself to telling you the truth, Aunt Sabir…" She turned her eyes to Sabir and smiled slightly, her tears renewed. "But she's alive… I _didn't_ lose her… I'm so happy…"

The older female warthog sighed in relief as she stood, the caked on mud on her skin was beginning to dry on her. "I'm glad… but now what are we going to do?"

"Right now, I have to go and find Timon," Pumbaa replied as he stood, excess mud beginning to drop off his body. "Barika's found and safe, so now we just have to find Shani. In two days if we can't find each other, we're gonna meet back at Pride Rock."

"You're gonna go look for Shani? Oh, Daddy, can I come with you? Please, please, _pleeeeeaaase?_" Barika asked as she sprang to her feet, wagging her tail and shaking off the mud that was there.

Pumbaa lightly frowned and pushed her down into a sitting position with his hoof on her shoulder. "Absolutely not. I just found you and I want to make sure that you _stay_ safe. You're going back to Chiku's sounder and you're gonna stay there until I get back."

"… Dad, we're going to find a _meerkat_ colony," she replied dryly, holding her hoof up about a foot from the ground. "They're only this tall; I don't think they can easily attack and hurt me. Besides, I _really_ want to make sure Shani's OK, too!"

"You never know…" Barika grimaced at his lame reply, her brow furrowed and her tail swishing in annoyance. "Listen, I promise as soon as we find her we'll bring her to you. I know how worried you are, but you just have to wait."

After a moment of silence, Barika decided to surrender with a sigh and a nod. "Just hurry, OK?" Pumbaa smiled and gave her another hug with his front legs. With a light, friendly nudge to Sabir Pumbaa climbed out of the mud hole and shook some of the excess mud off of him, deciding that it would slow him down. With his tail erect he determined which way lead to the east by the direction of the wind. Inhaling deeply Pumbaa then began to walk forward, the wind at his back and a new feeling of confidence.

"… Uh, Pumbaa? … East is _that_ way," Sabir pointed to the right of Pumbaa, who was starting to walk towards the north. Upon hearing that, the dirty red warthog corrected himself and marched towards the east with a _new_ feeling of confidence. Barika watched as her father disappeared into the distance. Sabir grimaced lightly as she watched her brother-in-law, and then she shook her head. "It's a wonder he did find us so fast…"

"… Maybe it was just dumb luck." But Barika just smiled... _Shani is alive..._

_To be continued…_


	39. Closing the Distance

I was reading some random chapters of my past works, mainly _Out of the Blue, _and I noticed how my writing style has improved since then. I've become more descriptive, not so rushed in some places. And, while my storylines are quite good, I almost cringe at how my style was a few years ago, at least compared to now. So, I'm thinking… should I revamp my _TLK _series starting with _Son of Fearless Buzz?_ I would keep the storylines the same, not change things terribly much; just update the writing style to my current status, maybe alter dialogue slightly. I would likely replace the chapters with the new versions, but I will keep the original versions on my deviantArt account, so anyone who is interested can see what my style was back in 2004 and 2005. Since they're already written, it wouldn't take me weeks to get new chapters up… maybe every other day like back in the old days. So, what do you think? Leave your opinions in your reviews, 'kay? In the meantime, let's move onto the present, shall we?

Chapter 39:

By this time of the day the sun's rays were not as harsh as they were earlier. Timon's group, consisting of himself, Sly, and Kito, had finally decided to continue forward on their search for the _Makunga_ Mob in the east. The tree they used for shade also provided a snack for the meerkats, but not enough to satisfy them. Although he still had a large amount of energy stacked up, Kito was wearing down a bit from heat fatigue and lack of a full meal. "Dad," he said to Timon, "how much further is it to the river, huh? I mean, I don't mean to sound like a pup or anything, but… _I'm still hungry!_"

Timon glanced back at his son with an arched brow and frowned. "_Geez,_ you're never satisfied… what kind of metabolism do you have, huh?"

"It's just his youthful energy, Timon," Sly spoke up as he looked over to his brother. "And that tree didn't exactly fill _our_ stomachs up either; we're just suppressing it a little better than him…" A grumble from Timon's stomach caused Sly to furrow his brow and grimace. "… Well, _I'm_ suppressing it a little better…" Timon replied with a sheepish chuckle and smile. Kito glared at the back of Timon's head. With a sigh the three of them stopped walking and turned to face each other. "It's a good hour or so before we reach the river… can't you both wait a while longer?"

The father and son turned to exchange glances, as if trying to read the other's thoughts. Timon's face was a little dry, while Kito maintained his glower. They nodded once to each other and turned back to Sly with a simple reply, "No, we can't."

Their reply caused Sly to slap a paw over his eyes, and slowly dragged it over his face. "We're this close to finding your daughter and sister and you two think with your stomachs… but then you _do_ have worse judgment when you're hungry, so talking things out would just be a fight waiting to happen." He took a quick look around the area. The nearest tree was several hundred yards away. And the rocks nearby were too large for them to lift without Pumbaa. He then spotted a dying bush that was about thirty feet away. Sly turned to Timon and Kito and pointed, "That bush is about the best bet for a bite."

"Bite, schmite; I want _several_ bites," Kito grumbled as he started to walk forward towards the bush. Timon and Sly exchanged confused expressions, and then followed after Kito, who had already made it to the bush and was already digging underneath.

"Whoa, Kito, save some for me, huh?" Timon smirked as he walked over his son to pat him on the back. He lightly wrinkled his brow when he noticed that Kito had dug such a deep hole in so little time, and that his back was already deep in there. "… Son, I know you're hungry, but don't use up _all_ that energy at once…"

"I didn't dig it!" Kito's muffled voice was heard from under the ground. "It was already here! _Ooo,_ here's one of those that taste like mangos…"

Timon blinked once and tilted his head as he watched Kito make a glutton out of himself. "You _didn't_ dig this? Who else could dig it then? … Gee, now that I think about it, it _could_ be a meerkat's handiwork. What do you think, Sly?" He turned to face his brother, who was no longer standing beside him. While Timon was approaching the bush, something had caught Sly's eye and he went to investigate it. When he reached what had grabbed his attention he stopped and knelt down to it. "Sly?" Sly did not reply. Frowning and sneering, Timon tapped his foot rapidly and planted his paws on his hips. "Well, guess I'll have to get his attention in the 'both names' way. … _**Hey,**_ I'm _talking_ to you, _**Titus Sylvester!**_"

Sly suddenly and visibly cringed when Timon called him by both of his names. It was a sure sign that he _did_ hear Timon and he was snapped out of his mild daze. He growled and glared as he looked over his shoulder at the red-haired meerkat. "How many times have I told you--!"

"I got tired of waiting for you to answer!" Timon returned, folding his arms over his chest. Kito backed up and out of the hole he was in, sucking the bug extract off of his fingers and licking his lips. Upon Kito's exit from the hole, Timon went ahead and got into the hole himself so he could also eat. "Go ask your Uncle Sly what he's doing, son."

With a light grimace at his father Kito shook his head and started to approach Sly, who in turn was walking back towards him and Timon. In Sly's paws were two sticks, each with dried blood on one end and splintered on the other end. Kito wrinkled his brow when he noticed what Sly was carrying. "What's going on, Uncle Sly?"

"This just caught my attention for some reason…" Sly replied as he held the two sticks together to form what the two pieces would have looked like whole.

"… It's a broken stick," Kito said dryly with a twitch of his nose. "You wanna start a collection or something?"

Sly narrowed his eyes slightly at his nephew, and then he brought the two pieces to his nose and took several sniffs. "… I smell meerkat on this."

"_Really?_ Hey, Dad, did you hear that?" Kito turned around and called to Timon, who was knee deep into the hole, eating. "Uncle Sly found a stick with meerkat smells on it! We must be getting closer to the colony!"

After a moment with no reply, Timon backed out of the hole, an assortment of beetles and worms cradled in his arms. Slurping a worm he approached the two of them. "What kind of clue?" he asked with a dry expression and his mouth full.

Sly held the two pieces of the stick out in front of him to judge the size and how it might have looked like whole. "This stick's too thin to be used for tunnel construction… but whole, it's perfect for a walking staff." He held the two sticks close to his nostrils and took a few more sniffs. "… And I _think_--and I'm not positive--that I smell some kind of reptile on here. If I had to guess I'd say it's probably some kind of snake." Timon swallowed hard; nearly choking on the beetle he had finished chewing.

Kito wrinkled his brow with a gulp, feeling a little ill all of a sudden. "So there's a _snake_ around here? You think he's still hungry or do they only eat like… every other year?" he asked with a nervous smile and laugh. He had his hair ruffled by Timon, with his free paw, in an attempt to calm him down.

"Who knows? I don't know if it even _got_ to eat. If the meerkat was lucky enough to use this to prop its mouth open he could've gotten away." He sneered slightly, still holding the two pieces together and out in front of him to see how they measured up. "… This is the kind of stick Nuru would use as a walking and guide staff. It might even be his."

"_**Nuru?**_" Timon's eyes widened as he dropped the insects he was holding and took hold of the stick, forgetting that it was in two pieces now and leading Sly to hold the bottom piece. "So, we _must_ be getting closer!" He inspected the broken staff in his paws, and eyed the blood with a gulp. "I uh… hope this blood is unrelated…"

"It wouldn't be the first time he's lost a staff to a snake," Sly replied as he tossed the broken staff in his paws aside. "I just hope he wasn't alone when it happened. The smell of meerkats is faint around here, but to even _smell_ them means that a colony's gotta be nearby. Whether it's Yasmin's colony or not…" He shrugged.

"Let's just hope it's the right one…" With that Timon tossed the piece of the staff he was holding aside, dusting his paws on his chest to get the smell off. "OK, we're not staving anymore and we've only got a few hours of sunlight left. Let's hurry up and find the colony before something else happens."

Sly lightly snorted as the three of them began to walk forward again. He muttered under his breath, "Yeah, like you seeing something with six legs and get distracted again…"

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing…"

_To Be Continued…_

Sorry about the abrupt end there; I had intended to add a second scene there, but decided it would not fit together as a whole chapter. We'll get to that soon. But, yay, they're getting closer! More soon!


	40. Closer

Ahhh, that idiot… they wasted perfectly _good_ space to put up their non-stories. Could at last put in some kind of EFFORT to write stories in the CORRECT categories… Because of them perfectly good newer stories like mine were pushed off to the next page or two. What are they trying to prove? That they have absolutely _no life?_ Uh, _**duuuuuuuuuhhhhhh!**_ It's like they _own_ the whole website or something. The freak. Sigh, anyway, here's the next chapter that's way better than what that other guy has been posting.

Also, I forgot to mention it a few chapters ago, but back in Chapter 6 I had decided to change the name of the character now known as Kano, and I said I would reveal it at the appropriate time. Well, the reason I changed his name from Habali to Kano is because of Makali. Makali, Habali, they both rhyme. And I think I didn't want to give the impression that they were related, because they both came from different colonies and a few years apart. Besides, I think Kano is cooler, as a name anyway. Oh, and as for rewriting my other stories, I may still do that when I have more free-time. But for now, enjoy the new!

Chapter 40:

With only a few hours of sunshine left in the day, Timon's group was unknowingly closing in on the _Makunga_ Mob. Shani still had no idea that any one of them was coming to find her. Even if she _knew,_ that was the farthest thing from her mind at that moment. She could not find Nuru, Naysun, or Hafiz anywhere in the tunnel, so she decided to look for them on the surface. Once she stuck her head outside of the hole Shani took several sniffs to see if she could smell any of them. Hafiz's scent was the freshest, so Shani climbed out of the hole and dusted herself off as she followed the scent. Soon, she began to smell Nuru, and then Naysun, as well as some fresh-picked flowers. And then she began to hear their voices.

"**Kano is trying to court Shani?**" Naysun's voice gasped in disgust. Upon hearing her name, Shani ducked down behind a rock that was nearby, and she peeked out to watch them. Naysun was just beginning to stand, as she was kneeling in front of a bush with a meerkat-sized rock laid underneath, with fresh flowers made into bracelets on top. Hafiz stood to the side, with his arms folded over his chest. Nuru stood on the other side, leaning on his staff. "She's too young for him!"

"Well, judging by how Kano was looking at her yesterday, I'd have to agree with Nuru," Hafiz spoke up as he nodded to the blind meerkat. "Age doesn't matter to those two; they're just looking for the best suitable females to have pups with."

Nuru growled as he pounded his fist into his paw, cradling his staff in his armpit, "And I've got a feeling they're not gonna wait any longer than they already have. The first new moon of the summer has already past; since they're still clinging to the old ways of the competitions their instincts are telling them that they're overdue for picking mates." Naysun swallowed hard and visibly shook as she held herself. Hafiz put a paw on her shoulder to try to steady her, which did not help. "This is getting too deep… if this keeps up we won't be able to wait another week for Timon." He turned to face Naysun. "I'm sorry, but to keep control of the colony we _have_ to act now."

"_**NO!**_" Naysun cried out, causing the two males and the female watching them to jump. Naysun realized her outburst and turned away from them. "I--I _can't._ I'm not strong enough… if I _was_ strong I would've prevented…" She trailed off and shook her head, fighting the urge to cry. "Maybe if I stepped up, saying that I was Yasmin, I could've saved her… I'd be dead instead, but I wouldn't care; I couldn't _stand_ seeing someone else I love dying! It hurts too much…" She clutched the fur over her heart as she felt it ache. She felt tears coming on… so she decided to run before either her brother or Hafiz could say anything. She ran right past Shani, who was about to make herself known by trying to stop her, but she chose not to.

Hafiz watched her run into the distance, disappearing into the ground. Nuru lightly grimaced, and then he sighed. "Sooner or later, the bosses _will_ find out about her and me," he said as he looked ahead. "Whether it's before Timon comes or not, I can't say. But I _will_ say I'll have to think about what we can do should it happen before. I'll be in the sentry tree." Hafiz nodded with a soft grunt, to confirm to Nuru that he understood. Nuru started to walk ahead, faking his limp as he approached Shani's hiding spot. Shani ducked down lower when she noticed Nuru and held her breath, staying as silent as possible. As Nuru walked past her and the rock he said with a light smirk, "You may as well come out of hiding, Shani; I could smell you coming."

Shani made a surprised squeak and blushed as Nuru walked past, and she gave an uneasy laugh and a shrug. "I uh… was just taking a stroll?" Nuru faintly chuckled as he continued on ahead, and muttered something that sounded like he was humoring her. "I _was!_"

Hafiz chuckled as he stepped up next to Shani, and gave her a pat on the head. "Well, while you're here," he said, "you should at least pay your respects to Yasmin." He nodded to the rock and then he began to walk away. "She always likes to meet new people."

"H-Hey, wa-wait a minute--!" Shani suddenly remembered why she was looking for those three, but then she decided she would be disrespectful if she was this close to a grave and not pay some respects to the dead. And she could always catch up to them in a minute. Sighing, Shani stood and dusted herself off as she approached the grave, and she could make out the flowers twisted together to form a ring better. Shani was told by her mother Zuri and her uncle Sly that Yasmin often twisted flowers together to make jewelry, most commonly bracelets. She had even given one to Zuri because, as she put it, she "did not need it." Shani wondered what Yasmin was really like, but never pressed it, as Sly looked a little distant when she began to ask him. Maybe he actually _missed_ her. She stood in front of the grave for a minute in silence, thinking these thoughts of how she must be missed. She gave the grave a smile and a nod, and then she turned around to find the others.

Shani had figured Nuru would need the time to think of a plan in case something _did_ happen before someone was able to bring Timon to the colony, and Naysun would probably prefer to be alone for a while, so her best bet would be to find Hafiz. More than likely he would be down in the tunnel somewhere. If she followed his scent before, it should not be too hard to find him again, she thought. But before she could go down the nearest hole into the tunnel, she gasped and stepped away. A meerkat was already emerging from the tunnel. The first thing she saw was his dark red hair. "… Shani."

Shani swallowed hard when Kano stepped out of the hole, lightly brushing the dirt off his arm. "G-Good afternoon, Kano…" she nervously smiled, fighting hard not to cower. "What's up?" She lightly grimaced when he stepped up to her, causing her to take a few steps back.

"I've been looking for you, and you were 'up,' _up top,_ that is," he replied as he looked her up and down, as if examining her which made Shani more uncomfortable. She politely smiled and tried to excuse herself as she tried to move around him to get into the hole, but he continued to block her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm trying to go inside and look for--" She gasped and froze when Kano put his paws on both of her shoulders, holding her still.

He leaned down to stare at her face better and then stared right into her brown eyes. "Not yet..." Shani couldn't look away. She felt fear when looking into his eyes, like when she stared into the eyes of the python and the cobra. She saw into the windows to his soul and saw something dark and cruel, and it scared her. "I wanna talk to you…"

_Meanwhile…_

"Are we _there_ yet?"

"Ask me that one more time, Kito, and I'm turning around and heading straight home."

"_Geez,_ you're touchy, Dad…" Timon, Sly, and Kito continued to travel east towards the river, and were now perhaps fifteen minutes from the bush they had snacked from and found Nuru's broken staff. They were unaware of how much closer they _were_ to the colony. "What's your problem?"

Timon glanced over at his son with a dry look on his face, "_My_ problem? My problem is _someone_ called me over to look at that staff before I could eat my fill at that bush. I'm still hungry."

"It's your own fault, Timon," Sly lightly snorted as he looked at his brother. "_You're_ the one who wanted to rush on ahead without taking a doggie bag with you. So don't pin this on us."

Timon glared at Sly for a few moments, having a few choice words that he would like to say to him, but chose against it. It would just be his not-so-full stomach talking. "… So how much further is it to the river?"

"Couldn't say…" Sly replied as he looked ahead, seeing a tree not three or so minutes away. "That tree looks stable… we can get our bearings there, maybe even find a place to camp before dark."

Kito stretched his arms out in front of him and yawned, then placed his paws behind his head. "Maybe we could find that galago's tree? She said her tree was somewhere around here." Timon and Sly gave him a dry look, as if asking him if he was crazy. Kito blinked once, and then he sighed. "Oh yeah… Komba's nice, but she's too much…" He lazily glanced ahead to see what was there, and as the wind picked up, he spied something sliding along the ground. "Huh? What's that?" He pointed past his father and uncle.

The two elder meerkats followed Kito's finger, which was pointing at what appeared to be some sort of tumbleweed, but not quite. Kito wrinkled his brow and ran to catch up to it. "Kito, wait!" Timon shouted as he and Sly ran to catch up to the young meerkat, who still had plenty of energy to burn. Kito had to jump and tackle the "tumbleweed" in order to keep it from rolling out of his reach. He laughed in triumph as the two brothers caught up with him, lightly panting. On closer inspection the "tumbleweed" was actually broken branches that were tied together with vine, and bedded with straw and grass, though most of the grass and straw already fell off the branches.

"What is it?" Sly asked, catching his breath.

"Looks like a quarter of a tumbleweed," Timon commented with an arched brow. "Maybe even an eighth."

Kito leaned into the branches and took several sniffs, furrowing his brow. "… Yeah, a tumbleweed with the scent of _meerkats_ on it. In fact, these look _just like_ the branches from that bush we stopped at." Timon and Sly gasped and exchanged glances, surprised.

"_Can't_ be a coincidence… it's too perfect," Sly muttered to himself.

Timon then took a few steps back from the branches to get a better look at it, rubbing his chin and squinting. "… Y'know, come to think of it, this looks just like those sled things we would make for the pups."

Kito smiled, remembering. "Oh, _yeah!_ We'd tie 'em to one of the warthogs and then they'd run and give us a ride around the oasis!"

"It's an oasis-only thing, so that means Shani's _gotta_ be nearby!" Timon laughed and he and his son exchanged high fives. "We're _really_ closing in on her now!"

Sly smirked at the two of them, and then looked in the direction the wind was coming from. "The wind could've blown that sled from anywhere, though… It could be on the other side of the river."

"So what?" Kito asked, suddenly looking and feeling very cocky. "The colony's that way, so we keep heading that way until we hit the colony, right? Then let's go! Last one there's a rotten stink bug!" With a seemingly extra boost of energy Kito turned and ran towards the east, making a beeline for the tree in the distance.

Timon and Sly grimaced as they watched after him, and then turned to each other. After a moment of silence, they began to run after him. "He's just like a rabbit, isn't he?" Sly lightly smirked.

"Yeah," Timon replied, rolling his eyes. "He just keeps going and going and going…"

_To be continued…_

Ooo, they're so close now! I DID have more to this chapter, but it was getting long and felt I could split it up and add even more. It shouldn't be too long before I add another chapter; maybe a week or so. Promise! See ya soon!


	41. Found

See how long this chapter is? Imagine how long it would've been if paired up with the previous! Speaking of, since this one was up fairly quickly, be sure you read the last chapter, too, and reviews always nice.

Ahh, here we are, one of the scenes I've been wanting to write near the very beginning, but not as much as a scene that'll be coming up within the next few chapters, which was, like, _the_ very first concept I had planned out since the very-very beginning._ Ooh,_ I can't wait! … Bet now that I said that _you_ _guys_ won't be able to wait either. Heh, sorry. Since I pretty much know what I wanna do up to that point, it shouldn't take terribly long before I get there. Then I'll be asking for your opinions on how the story should unfold. I'll let you know when, so don't be writing anything yet, _especially_ not in reviews where everyone can see. See what's happening first. So, until then, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 41:

Kito had a nice head-start on his father and uncle, a minute or two ahead of them as he was closing in on the tree. He felt confident that he would find Shani, and maybe--in the process--he'll be given the recognition he's been working for. He was almost to the tree when a familiar voice caused him to stop in his tracks. "Get your paws off of me! I said I'm _not_ interested!"

Kito's eyes widen and his head spun to the direction where he heard the voice. _That sounded like Shani! And it sounded like she's in trouble!_ He felt relieved that he had found his sister, but worried at the tone of her voice. He wasted no time as he began to run towards her, away from the tree. He abruptly stopped when he saw a large meerkat standing in front of Shani, his back facing Kito. Kito knelt down low to keep himself from being seen and bit his lower lip. _Look at the _size_ of him! He's bigger than Bango's tusks! _He then saw Shani struggling out of the meerkat's grip and stumbled back onto the ground, moving away from the large meerkat as he advanced her. "It's not really _your_ choice, pup. No matter what you've been told, I'm going to get you, one way or another…"

A snarl escaped from Kito's curled lips, his pupils shrinking down to needlepoint, and his fingers digging down into the ground. That was Shani, all right… and it appeared to him that she had just come across a colony, and the leader was getting ready to kill her. The _Makunga_ Mob must be further east, he decided. For now… his sister needs his help. He looked down when he felt his fingers hit something hard and solid. He pulled it out, noticing that it was a pebble. It was not big enough to cause enough damage, but it would distract the leader long enough to help Shani get away. Nodding to himself, Kito stood tall, tossed the pebble into the air a few times, determining his aim, and then threw it at the back of the meerkat's head.

Kano froze when he felt something hard strike the back of his head, a bit surprised… and slowly began to lose his temper. Shani wrinkled her brow when she noticed his face growing darker. She then noticed the pebble that had dropped near his feet, and then looked past him, and gasped, her eyes widening to their limit. There stood Kito, who was dusting his paws off and then cracking his knuckles. He scowled at the meerkat and cracked a knuckle during each pause, "Leave… her… alone."

_Kito! If he's here, then… oh, no…!_ Shani shook her head to dismiss that thought, noticing Kano's lip beginning to curl into a growl. To protect her brother, Shani yelled at Kito, "**Get away, rogue, while you've still got a chance! He's gonna **_**kill**_** you!**" If she had called him by name, a seemingly regular rogue, then Kano might suspect something unusual about her. She had to pray that Kito would not call _her_ by name… what's more, before _Timon_ would appear. So rather than take a chance, she took the opportunity to scurry past Kano and into the tunnel to safety. Kito shook his head in confusion, and his face matched. He then noticed Kano turning to face him, his temper clearly breeched. Noticing this, Kito lightly smirked… all that practicing he had been doing will finally pay off.

So, getting into a defensive position, Kito gave Kano a simple gesture with his fingers and said, "Gimme your best shot, scorpion puss…" The elder meerkat snarled as he approached Kito, turning his slow walk into a run, and then he lunged at Kito, who jumped to the side to avoid him. "Aw, _c'mon,_ you're slower than a snail on cooking oil! Come and get me!" Kito's intentions for this fight were to tire the boss meerkat down and then try to attack him, but he had no idea how bad Kano's temper was, and every time he missed Kito, the elder meerkat was going to get madder…

While the keep-away battle was occurring, Timon and Sly finally made it to the tree. Sly leaned against it as he panted, almost out of breath from trying to catch up to Kito. Timon leaned forward on his knees to pant, almost feeling ready to faint. "_Woo,_ boy," Timon gasped, "that pup doesn't even stop to smell the roses!" Unknowing to them, a few branches above them was Nuru, who was still trying to think of ideas and was too deep in them to hear Shani's yells. But he did hear Timon's voice directly below; leading him to furrow his brow and believe that a rogue had just stopped under his tree. He slowly began to climb down, trying not to be heard.

"Well, I don't know about roses…" Sly swallowed, and then took a few sniffs of the tree he was leaning against. "… But there's definitely a heavy scent of meerkats on this tree. The colony's _gotta_ be close." Nuru narrowed his eyes at the second voice, and determined that he would be the closest and therefore easiest to attack. He climbed down another branch, setting his feet down softly onto it.

Timon, unsuspecting of Nuru, took a few steps ahead, and narrowed his eyes when he noticed two meerkats were indirectly fighting each other. The smaller meerkat was jumping from side to side while the larger one was trying to lunge and attack him. "… _Hey,_ that looks like--!"

Before Timon could get the name out Nuru jumped down from the last branch and landed directly onto Sly, growling and trying to pin him down. Sly only struggled to get out and away, trying not to fight back to show they were peaceful. Timon spun around and gasped, and was about ready to run over to help. Sly grunted and waved a paw at him, "I'm fine! Get going!" He growled and continued to struggle against Nuru, who was still on his back.

Timon nodded and began to run, until he noticed Nuru's staff propped up against the tree. He smirked as he ran over and grabbed it, "I'll just take _this..._" He then began to run towards the dueling meerkats.

"_C'mon,_ I've seen _pond scum_ move faster than you! What's the matter; can't ya catch me?" Kito taunted Kano as he jumped back towards a pile of sticks. Kano was clearly not amused by the young meerkat's actions, and flinched like he was about to lunge at him. Thinking he was lunging for real, Kito took a jump back, only to land on a stick that made him lose his balance. "Wha-wha-_wha--?_" He tried to run backwards to stay upright, but he ended up kicking the stick over to Kano and fell directly onto his back and into the pile of sticks, breaking a few and scattering the rest.

Kito gritted his teeth as he rolled onto his back to relieve himself of the pain, and then yelped when he felt Kano's foot push down on his back and back onto the ground. He tapped the stick in his paw as he looked down at the young "rogue," burning a hole into the back of his skull. "Aw, tough luck…" Kano cooed with malice in his voice. Kito groaned slightly as he turned his head back to look at Kano, and then widened his eyes when the large meerkat began to raise the stick over his head. "I caught ya." He turned away and braced himself when he saw Kano starting to bring the stick down to strike him.

_Clunk!_ Nuru's staff blocked Kano's stick from striking Kito, who was still bracing for the pain. When he felt nothing and began to hear wood creaking above his head Kito opened his eyes and looked up. Standing over him was his father Timon, who was using Nuru's staff to hold back Kano's stick from injuring him. Kano seemed surprised by this second meerkat's appearance, but quickly got over it as he pushed against the staff, baring his teeth and snarling. Timon bared his own teeth with a growl, anger clear in his face as he pushed back against the stick. "Hurt my son even _a_ _little_ and **I'll hurt you **_**a lot!**_"

"_I've told you before, Kano… hurt my son even _a little,_ and __**I'll hurt you **_**a lot!**_"_ Those words rang in Kano's memory; a memory of a hateful day long ago. Somehow, he felt like history was repeating himself. But then he felt it was too much of a coincidence for it to actually happen. What were the odds? But then again…

"… Buzz…"

Timon's eyes widened in surprise by the sudden mention of his father, which caused him to ease back on his pushing. "_What?_" Kano suddenly smirked and kicked Timon in the stomach, causing him to fall back and drop Nuru's staff with a cough. Kito quickly crawled over to his father and helped him to sit up, holding onto his shoulders. Timon furrowed his brow and rubbed his stomach, feeling a little grateful that his stomach was not completely full for once. "Who are you calling 'Buzz,' pal?" he asked as Kano took a step towards them.

"You," Kano replied with a snort and a crack of his knuckles. "The anger in your eyes a moment ago… I saw the same kind of eyes years ago from the meerkat now known as Fearless Buzz."

Timon's brow jumped, and then furrowed once again. _Come to think of it,_ Timon thought at he looked up at Kano, _he _does_ look familiar… If he knew Dad, then… nah, couldn't be, right?_

"But mainly," Kano continued, staring down at the two of them with cold eyes, "I wanted to distract you… and it worked." Kito growled, his pupils shrinking down again. Timon clenched his jaw and kept a paw on Kito's shoulder to prevent him from attacking Kano. "Not like it matters… with those scrawny arms I would've overpowered you easily." He grinned as he tightened his grip on the stick… and then he tossed it aside. "And I think I'll have just as much fun tearing you both apart with my own claws than just beating you to death."

"This guy must've been a gym teacher in a past life…" Kito mumbled to Timon, who swallowed and nodded. He then held up his paws in a non-threatening manner. "Hey-hey-hey, if you're gonna kill us because I threw that pebble at you, then I'm sorry! But you were picking on--!"

"_Hey,_ can't you two go _anywhere_ without causing trouble?" The sound of a new meerkat caused Kano to turn around, growling and ready to attack. He held back from attacking, but was still ready to when he noticed Sly walking towards them, Nuru's arm draped over his shoulder as he limped towards them. "Honestly, I can't leave you two alone for a second!"

Kano furrowed his brow deeper as they approached him and then walked past him to greet Timon and Kito. Nuru continued to lean against Sly as the dark-haired meerkat helped Timon back to his feet. "Nuru, what is the meaning of this?" Kano growled to the blind meerkat. Of course Kano was unaware of this fact.

Nuru continued to play the part of a "sighted" meerkat in front of Kano and nodded to the group, "They're just a group of meerkats who are just passing through the area looking for someone. They've been going from mob to mob for the past week."

"A week? That can't be--" Kito began to protest that it had only been two days, but Sly immediately slapped a paw over his mouth to silence him. "Mmmph!"

"Yeah, I know, Junior, time flies and all that," Sly patronized, and then turned back to Kano, smiling his best. "Sorry if Junior gave you trouble; he's been on this annoying kick of energy lately and attacks just about anything that moves. _Youthful_ energy."

Kano sneered at Kito, "I was just in the middle of a… _conversation_ between a young female and--"

"A female? You--" Timon began to ask Kano if the meerkat met with Shani's description, but Sly cut him off.

"Junior, _honestly!_" Sly grinned to Kito and winked. "Trying to impress the ladies by taking on such a big meerkat all by yourself? You're so naïve it's annoying." Kito, still with his mouth covered by his uncle, growled and furrowed his brow at him. He then began to say something that was muffled by the paw and pantomimed. "I know, I know, but the females here are not for impressing."

Timon wrinkled his brow at Sly… he was acting very odd, not to mention lying through his teeth. He wondered what the deal was. "What're you--?"

"I don't care why you are here," Kano interrupted, glaring at the three of them. "Just find this 'someone' and get off our land before I make you regret it!"

"Sure, sure, no problem!" Timon began as he picked up Nuru's staff, deciding it would make a nice walking stick and-or weapon in the future. He was about to open his mouth to give Shani's description, but Sly spoke up before him again.

"We're looking for a brown-haired male with green eyes and seven stripes on his back, light tanned fur and about this high," Sly lied as he held his paw up to under his chin to indicate a height. Nuru pretended to see the height and shook his head. Sly grimaced at the head-shake, and then he snatched the staff right out of Timon's paw. Timon furrowed his brow as he watched Sly tap Nuru on the shoulder with it. "Well, keep an eye out for him, OK? No hard feelings, right?"

Nuru snatched the staff back from him with a growl and used it to stand on his own, turning his back on the three of them. "We haven't seen anyone like that recently," Kano said, "but if I see him, I'll snap his neck like a twig for coming this way."

"Isn't that a bit--?" Timon began.

"It just gives us more encouragement to find him sooner, Tim," Sly frowned, and then turned back to Kano with a smile. "OK! Sorry for the trouble! We'll be on our way now. Good night, sleep tight, dream of bed bugs tonight." With his paw still over Kito's mouth he began to push him back and away from Kano and Nuru, signaling Timon to follow with a "let's go" look in his eyes. Timon, terribly confused, hesitated a moment before he went ahead and followed him.

Kano watched as they began to shrink against the horizon, and Nuru turned around to watch them as well. "… Nuru," Kano began, still watching the three meerkats, "why were you in the tree? You were not on duty today."

"I can't sit in a tree for no reason at all? Maybe I was enjoying the sights," Nuru countered, turning his blind gaze to the larger meerkat. "I was deep in thought; otherwise I would've seen them coming sooner."

"… And _what_ were you so _deep_ in thought about?"

Nuru closed his eyes and furrowed his brow as he replied, "A guy can't reflect upon the day's events? I narrowly escaped a cobra today and injured myself… shouldn't I think about how I could keep a look out for myself better so my sister wouldn't be left alone?"

"For one thing, it's your own fault if you were almost eaten. For another, you sister won't be alone. Kali will take good care of her should you happen to pass on. Whether you live or die is no concern to me."

"… Excuse me." Without dignifying Kano with a reply Nuru turned around and walked over to a hole, and climbed down into it. Kano glared after him for a moment, and then turned his sights back to the three meerkats. They soon were no longer in sight, so he, too, returned to the safety of the tunnel.

Kito's yells of protest were nearly distinguishable when they began to distance themselves from view of Kano. As soon as they were safe behind a tree Sly finally allowed Kito to breathe. Kito took a moment to regain his breath as Timon folded his arms over his chest. "All right, Kito," he began with an arched brow, "what was that all about? Don't you know a big guy like that could've easily killed you? In fact, he almost did! What were you trying to prove, huh?"

"I wasn't… I wasn't trying to prove anything!" Kito gasped as he got his breath back. "That big guy… was getting ready to hurt a girl! Not… not just any girl either! _Dad,_ _Shani__ was back there!_"

Timon nearly felt his heart skip a beat and his eyes nearly bugged out of his sockets. "_**WHAT!**_ Why didn't we _smell_ her if she was so close? Sly, we gotta go back--!"

"We can't," Sly said as he looked into the distance, as if in a daze. "She's safe for now, and if we went back over there now, not only would we put _her_ in danger, but _ourselves_ as well."

"You're still not making any sense, Sylvester," Timon said as he rubbed his temple. "What was with all that lying and all that 'Junior' and 'Tim' crud? And for that matter, if Shani's there, then _**where**_ is the _Makunga_ Mob?"

Sly leaned against the tree and then looked back towards the tunnels. No meerkat was in sight anymore. With a sneer, Sly replied, "That _is_ the _Makunga_ Mob, Timon…"

"But… then who was that guy?" Kito asked with a wrinkled brow, confused. "I don't remember him at all…"

"But that one meerkat with the staff was Nuru… and there's no way Yasmin or Naysun would kick him out." Sly clenched his paw tightly, staring at the tunnels with a sick feeling in his stomach. "I think… that one meerkat… is the new leader… which means…" Sly quickly shook his head, as if to dismiss that disturbing thought. "No… if Nuru is still there and alive, then…" Timon looked at his brother, suddenly feeling a little nauseous when he thought of what might have happened. Kito only continued to look confused, as he did not know the customs to how leaderships worked outside the oasis. "C'mon, Shani's safe for now, and we need answers. We gotta find this tree..." And with that, a dazed, pale Sly began to walk away, soon to be followed by Timon and Kito.

_To be continued…_


	42. Unwelcomed Welcome

_Geez,_ I'm extremely lazy. Not only has it been a little over a month since the last chapter, but this fic will be up for 2 years in a few weeks. To my faithful readers, thank you _very_ much for sticking with me for this long, especially those who have been with this fic since the very beginning. We'll be getting somewhere special soon, and then to the readers suggestions. Also, sorry if there are any grammer mistakes I missed. Well, here we go then!

Chapter 42:

Shani had hurried down into the safety of the tunnel when her brother Kito unexpectedly arrived and saved her from Kano. She did not want to leave him alone with the larger, stronger meerkat, but if she helped him then Kano would likely kill her. She could only pray that her brother would be smart enough to run away. Once she made it to Hafiz's nest chambers Shani stumbled inside, panting heavily and drained. She did not even look to see if anyone was inside. "H… H… Hafiz?"

Luckily, Hafiz was already inside, arranging the straw and leaves that made up their bed. He turned his eyes to her when he heard his name and ceased his actions. Naysun was sitting to the side of the nest and looked to Shani when she came in, widening her eyes. "Shani, you look exhausted!" Naysun exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and rushed over to the young meerkat. She began to groom her blond hair to give her comfort. "What happen?"

"I… I-I was looking for you…" Shani gasped for air as she tried to explain, "and I… I ran into Kano…" She swallowed and leaned down on her knees to try to recapture her breath. "… Scared me…"

Hafiz's ears twitched as his brow furrowed. "Kano? _What_ did he do to you?"

"Nothing… except he… he says he wants… wants to mate with me…" Naysun covered her mouth with her paws with a fearful air in her sky-blue eyes. She looked as if she was going to be sick. Hafiz looked disgusted as he snorted and looked away from Shani. "But then--" Shani silenced herself by biting her tongue. She realized that if she mentioned that it was her _brother_ who saved her that it would mean _Timon_ was not far behind. And if they discovered it was true, even though _she herself_ was unsure, then she would not get her full week of real meerkat lessons. Her end of the deal was to tell them where Timon was, after all. Shani knew she had to keep quiet as long as she could. "… A rogue… came by and… distracted him… and I ran…"

"Hmm… you don't see that many rogues being courteous…" Hafiz stated as he rubbed his chin. He then turned back to Shani. "How big was he? Could he take on Kano easy?"

Before Shani could give an uneasy reply Nuru stepped into view of the chamber, facing away from all of them. "He was just a young adult," he said. He waited a moment for the three meerkats to look to him before he continued. "He was hyped up on hormones and wanted to impress and/or court our little scout here." He turned his head to face them with a very small grin. "He actually thought he could take on Kano…"

Shani's first reaction would be to run up to Nuru and cling to his chest fur, pleading to know if that "rogue" was still alive, but then she realized they would be curious as to why she was so concerned. Instead she bottled up her fear and swallowed hard. "… Is he… alright?" She felt so relieved when Nuru nodded.

"He ran off before Kano could strike… smart pup. … Hafiz, I want to speak with you for a while."

Hafiz wrinkled his brow and looked to Naysun and Shani briefly before turning back to Nuru. "Right _now?_ But it'll be dark soon--"

"_Right. Now._ It's important." The blind meerkat then turned his face away from Hafiz to where his sister's scent was strongest. "Naysun, stay with Shani for a while in case Kano comes looking for her. Take her to the west wing for a while and maybe teach her how to construct a hallway or something. She barely learned anything from me. Just don't leave her alone until we get back."

"… If you say so, Nuru," Naysun replied with an unsure shrug. "Just be careful out there…"

"Don't run into anymore 'snakes…'" Shani added. Nuru gave her a small smile at that note, and then the two males walked out of the chambers, leaving the two females alone.

_Elsewhere…_

"Lemme get this straight, Sly…" Timon began as he paced inside the space of the dead tree. Sly was sitting near the opening and keeping watch for uninvited and invited visitors while Kito was scratching his back against a jagged piece of wood. "We're _here_ in this moldy old tree waiting for Nuru to come along while my daughter is _there,_ left alone in a hole with that brick wall with fur? _Why_ are we out _here _again?"

"Because Nuru says this is the best place to meet up without worrying about that 'brick wall with fur' coming over and overhearing," Sly replied as he looked back to his brother. "He told me to pretend I didn't know him and that we're just passing by, and not to use our names. He said he'll meet us here soon. I told him you two know he's blind, so he doesn't have to act like he can when he arrives."

"… And _why _is he pretending he can?" Timon asked as he tapped his forehead with his fingertips.

Sly sighed as he folded his arms over his chest. "Blind meerkats are basically worthless and shouldn't be left alive, but since Nuru could provide ideas for our survival he was allowed to stay. That one meerkat acted like he didn't know he couldn't see, so I doubt he's seen Nuru's eyes uncovered. It's probably for his own protection..."

Kito inhaled deeply after he finished scratching his back and stretched his arms out. "That makes sense… but I still don't see why I didn't smell Shani when I got closer. I mean, I can sort of smell her scent in here, but it's faint, like it's been like a day since she's been in here. I smell a few others, but I don't recognize most of them."

"They must've covered up her old scent with their own, if she still smelled like an outsider," Sly observed after taking a few sniffs, and then he sighed, ruffling his dark hair. "It's only been a year and I've already forgotten their scents. Oh Yasmin, what have you gotten yourself into since I left?"

Timon continued to pace, his patience wearing thin since he was so close to speaking to his daughter again. When he heard some voices approaching outside he stopped, his ears twitching. "_Finally…_ we should get a free drink for waiting this long..." Sly turned towards the voices and smiled when he recognized them. Nuru and Hafiz were approaching the tree, the blind meerkat following the seeing while faking his limp.

"You still haven't explained what all this is about, Nuru," Hafiz complained to Nuru with an annoyed growl. "It's almost dark, and--" He trailed off when he noticed a familiar face was now standing at the opening of the space with a grin. "… Sly?"

"Only when I need to be," the dark-haired meerkat replied with a smirk and a light bow. He then let out a few chuckles as Hafiz hurried over to shake his paw and gave him a brief hug. "It's good to see you, Hafiz…"

"I can't believe it! I was _not_ expecting you to come back around," Hafiz chuckled as he gave Sly a pat on his shoulder, and then he noticed the two others inside, and his jaw slowly dropped when he recognized one of them. "Timon?"

Timon stood and his eyes squinted slightly at Hafiz, pointing a finger at him. "_Heeeeey,_ aren't you the guy who put me in a headlock when we first met?" The hazel-haired meerkat gulped, blushed, and gave a sheepish chuckle. Sly laughed as he remembered that moment. A year ago Timon had just marched into their territory and they were both glaring at each other. Suddenly Hafiz came by and got the drop on Timon, which eventually started a fight. He could laugh about that now.

Nuru stepped up next to Hafiz, offering his paw to Sly to shake, which he did. The blind meerkat then turned his gaze towards Timon's voice. "So you're Timon? … Your timing couldn't be more perfect." He nodded his head towards the space, gesturing everyone to get inside so that they could talk, which they did. Timon walked over to sit down next to Kito. Hafiz stood by the entrance to keep watch. Nuru stood and leaned against the wall, as did Sly. "So who else do we have here?"

"I'm Kito," the young adult introduced himself, waving to Nuru. "I'm the pup that Uncle Sly found and brought to your colony in the Outlands last year."

"… _Uncle_ Sly?" both Nuru and Hafiz turned to Sly with raised, skeptic brows.

Sly nervously chuckled and shrugged as he returned, "It's a… term of affection, like when he calls the warthog Uncle Pumbaa when they're clearly not related." _That's right,_ Sly thought as his two old friends nodded, accepting his answer. _I never got to tell them that Sengbe wasn't my father, but that I'm the Uncle Titus Kito was looking for. I can't tell them yet; not until things have cooled down... _

Hafiz smiled as he took a better look at the young red-haired adult. "Kito… yeah, I remember you now. Wow, you've grown like a weed since last year; I hardly recognized you. … You must've been that young rogue that was trying to pick a fight, huh?"

"He had it coming," Kito said smugly, folding his arms over his chest with a snort. "He was picking on my little sister…"

"Your _sister?_" Hafiz's eyes widened a bit as he looked at Kito, and then turned to Timon. "So Shani _is_ your daughter?"

Timon nodded… and then he blinked, his brow wrinkled. "Wait, you mean you didn't know?"

"Shani didn't tell us, but we had a feeling that she was," Nuru spoke up, tilting his head towards Timon. "Naysun said she had a very strong resemblance to Zuri, so it wasn't hard to take a guess."

"Where _is_ Shani?" Kito asked with his brow furrowed.

Hafiz waved a paw at him to tell him to calm down. "She's fine; she's back in the tunnels with Naysun. She's keeping her safe while we're gone."

"I didn't feel it was an appropriate time for either of them to meet with you yet," the blind meerkat added, and then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, that reminds me; I wanted to get something out of the way…" Since Sly was standing next to him, and he knew about where his face was, it was easy for him to determine where he should throw his punch. His fist made direct contact with Sly's jaw, causing him to rear back and stumbled back onto the ground.

Timon and Kito gasped as they hurried over to help Sly up, as Hafiz grabbed onto Nuru's shoulders in case he wanted to do more. Sly winced as he rubbed his jaw and rotated it back into position. "Ow! What was _that_ for?" he growled at Nuru.

Nuru snarled as he pointed an accusing finger at the bruised meerkat, his hair parted enough so that Sly could see one of his angry, scarred eyes. "_That_ was for my sisters! You really broke their hearts when you left like that, you insensitive dung beetle! You left Yasmin to lead a colony all by herself and you _know_ how Naysun feels about loved ones leaving her! And the pain you're feeling now isn't even a _fraction_ of what they've felt in the past year!"

For once, Timon was at a loss as to what to say. He knew he should speak up on his brother's behalf, but what does one say to something like that? "… Yasmin _told_ me to go, Nuru." Everyone grew silent when Sly finally spoke and stared at the blind meerkat. "She knew I didn't love her like she wanted me to, that she knew she couldn't force me to either, nor that I belonged with the colony… so she told me to leave, that she could handle things on her own. I didn't believe her, but I knew she had you to fall back on." He sighed and lowered his eyes. "I know I broke her heart, and Naysun's as well, but I _had_ to find a place that would accept me for _who_ I am, not for how I looked or what I could do… and I did… and if you'll let me, I'd like to apologize."

"… My sister doesn't want to see you," Nuru replied in a low-leveled voice, shrugging Hafiz's paws off his shoulders and turned away from Sly.

"Umm… _which one_ doesn't wanna see him?" Kito asked, still not quite sure about how a new mob boss would affect Yasmin's fate. "Yasmin, or Naysun?"

There was a long, uncomfortable minute of silence, as if Nuru was unsure of how to reply to that. It was not long before Hafiz spoke up, "Nuru… we should head back. The sun's almost set…"

"… You go on ahead, make sure the girls are alright," Nuru softly replied, nodding. He turned his face to look over his shoulder to the three other meerkats. "… I'll take you to see her…"

_To be continued…_

I'm sure a lot of you know where he's gonna take 'em, and I'll bet you've been waiting to read it, too! I'll try not to be so lazy getting started on Chapter 43, 'cuz I've wanted to write that one for a while, too! Until then, enjoy a DUO-free environment (for now anyway)!


	43. Memories Of Her

Happy Birthday, _Natural Instinct. _Sigh, this story is two years old now and it's taken this long to get to this scene. We may have only a third of the story left, if we're lucky, and if I get well-enough story suggestions. Again, I'll let you know when I would like to receive them. It'll be very soon. Meanwhile, I enjoy a DUO-free atmosphere. Can't believe he just came back with more of his BS. Caused this story to be on the third or fourth page for a while, so if you didn't read the previous chapter, please do so. Meanwhile, y'all go ahead and read this long-anticipated chapter. Talk to you soon!

Chapter 43:

The sun had finally set over the Pride Lands, leaving behind the remainder of the twilight. Again, what seemed like a very long day to many had ended, but who knows what the rest of the night might bring? Using the local landmarks as his map Nuru could find his way to anywhere in the area, but he was normally not seen by himself. He led Timon, Sly, and Kito away from the dead tree while Hafiz had returned to the tunnels to sleep. He only told them that he was taking them to see his sister, but nothing more about _where_ she was. "Let me see if I have this straight, Timon," Nuru said as he sniffed the air a few times. "You're telling me that the Kano who took control of our colony was originally from _your_ colony?"

"Well, I was only a pup at the time," Timon replied as he leaned against a rock to brush a piece of mud from the bottom of his foot, "but he has the same name and the same kind of temper as the Kano I remember." He then blinked and rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it, _this_ Kano had scars on his right hip, and that's where Dad scratched _that _Kano when he was kicked out."

Kito stretched his arms out in front of him, a little sore from his near-fight with Kano. "Sounds like a match to me," he said, wincing when he felt something cricked.

"Hmph," Nuru grunted as he glanced around briefly, still sniffing the air. "Then I guess none of you know Kali then…"

Timon shook his head, briefly forgetting that Nuru couldn't see. Sly gave his brother a dry look, and then cleared his throat. "No, we haven't. It only sounds similar to other names we know. But then again you can never be too sure. We'd have to see him fir…" Sly's voice trailed off when he noticed the grave ahead of them and stopped cold. Timon and Kito only hesitated briefly when they saw it, and slowly walked past Sly to get closer to it. Nuru stood next to Sly, but not very close. He continued to face forward, where Timon and Kito had stopped in front of the grave.

The young red-haired meerkat felt pale when he knelt down in front of the grave, almost dreading whom it belonged to. "… Who… who is this? Whose grave is this?" Timon looked down at his son with sympathy and then put a paw on top of his head.

Nuru stood in silence for a moment before he softly replied, "… It was three months ago. Kano and Kali… they just… suddenly appeared and got the drop on me. They demanded Yasmin and… beat me with my staff until she came forward, begging them to stop. And Kano…" He swallowed hard and clutched onto his stomach, his paw shaking slightly. "… Well, we realized how dangerous he is…"

"… _Yasmin?_" Kito's eyes widened when he figured it out… and then lowered his head and clenched his paws. "This is… _Yasmin's_ grave? She's… she's dead? I… I-I just can't believe it… I remember her being so nice and sweet…" He smirked through his misting eyes. "Heh… I remember she told me I'd like that kind of thing when I was older…"

"_You're young, so you don't understand a lot of things yet. In life, you'll have to make a lot of decisions of what you want in life and what you have to do with it. You know like fitness, health, manners, diet... and other pointless forms of sacrifice."_

"_Yeah, but that's only when you're older, right?"_

"_Whenever _you_ think you're old enough to make those decisions. You're only three months old right now, so you have time to decide what you want to do."_

Kito sniffled and placed his paws over his eyes as Timon softly ruffled his son's hair. Timon did not have much of a chance to meet with Yasmin, but he knew enough about her to respect her. And she respected him in return…

"_Thank you for helping us to avenge our colony, Great Timon. You truly are the son of Fearless Buzz."_

He lowered his eyes and sighed softly, still ruffling Kito's hair. "That's how it usually works out here, Kito," he said softly. "Outsiders come and challenge the leader, usually to the death. That's how your Grandpa Shomari got control of his family…" Kito didn't say anything. He stayed silent except for a few sniffles.

Sly remained silent as he stayed in that spot and continued to stare at the grave. This was not the reunion he had in mind yesterday. He hoped he would at least speak with her and see how things were, at the very least apologize. But now, what was the point? He seemed to snap out of his trance when Nuru spoke. "The pup barely knew her, yet he still sheds tears," he began with his brow furrowed. "You knew her three years and you're just standing there slack-jawed. The least you could do is _talk_ to her, Sly."

"… It won't bring her back, so why--?"

Nuru's head snapped to glare at him, one of his scarred eyes visible. "It's been a whole year and you won't even acknowledge her? She kept hoping you would come find her and at least visit, but no. No, you stayed in your new little _paradise_ and forgot all about us, like we never existed. I defended you by saying if you had stayed you'd be in a grave next to her--"

"Oh, like _you're_ supposed to be?" Sly unexpectedly hissed at his old friend. "She's not the only one meant to be in a grave, you know. She _told _me to leave; she didn't tell you _not_ to call her 'sister.' You could've defended her, but instead you hid your true identity to stay alive. You're still alive and she's not… _you're_ the coward here, not me!"

Nuru snarled as he stepped up to Sly, "Did you really hate us _that_ much, Sylvester? That if we died it wouldn't matter to you? You'd rather those two _jackals_ lead the colony instead of me or my sister or even _you?_ Is that all we are to you, just a passing thought?" Sly sneered at Nuru, staring a hole through his thick bangs. Nuru growled and turned away from him, his fists shaking. "Well, we're still here… And at least we care enough for the colony to stay alive for a better future, instead of living in fear from the inside!"

"And you need _our_ help to do it? _**Gotta depend on others to do your dirty work **_**for you, **_**you spineless--?**_" Sly nearly found himself lunging at Nuru until Timon rushed over to hold him back, straining to keep a hold of him.

"Sly! Sly! _**SLY!**_ Cut it out; _you're_ supposed to be the voice of reason, remember? _I'm_ the one who's supposed to be losing my temper!" Timon grunted as he fought against his younger brother's strength.

Nuru turned his head to appear to be looking over his shoulder with an arched brow. "I see you still have a short fuse, don't ya, Sylvester?" Sly ceased his struggles, but kept his sneer. "It's not as severe as Kano's, but even if it was it wouldn't help. You're not the kind that kills; you never were."

When he felt the tenseness in Sly's muscles fade away Timon released Sly from his grasp. Sly sighed and lowered his eyes slightly, but his brow was furrowed. "Yeah… I guess that's what would've made me a weak leader, right?"

"If I said that… I'd have to say the same thing about my sister…"

"But you know it's true…" Sly inhaled and exhaled deeply… and then he threw a punch right into a nearby jagged rock to let out his frustration. He knew he didn't have the spine to hit a blind meerkat, so he _had_ to let it out somewhere. He softly grunted when he felt his knuckles were stinging more than they should. When he pulled them back to inspect them he realized they were bleeding. Sly sighed and turned away from the grave, covering his knuckles with his left paw.

"… _If we're gonna get married someday it would be nice to get to know how wonderful I am."_

Sly's jaw clenched, as if he was trying to hold back what he really wanted to say, or do. He felt his head starting to turn back towards the grave, but then he stopped himself and forced his head back to where he was facing. _Looking back won't bring her back… _"… I'm sorry, Yasmin…" He then started to walk away without another word.

"Uncle Sly--!" Kito began, reaching out towards Sly, but he was silenced when his father Timon pushed his paw down.

"Let him be, son… he needs some time alone." Kito looked up at Timon, and then back to Sly, and softly sighed. "He'll be back…"

The blind meerkat stepped up to them as Timon returned to ruffling Kito's hair. "So, Great Timon… will you help us again? We normally wouldn't ask, but none of us are strong enough to face either of them."

Timon looked to Kito briefly, and then turned back to Nuru with a shrug, "I'm not quite sure what I can do at this time, but I'll do what I can, Nuru. I just need some time to think."

"Good," Nuru nodded with a small smile. "You can stay at the tree for as long as you need. Just try not to get too close to the tunnels. We'll bring Shani around sometime in the morning. For now, we should all get some sleep." A restless Timon wanted to see his daughter now, but he realized it was better for both of them to wait, and so he nodded with a sigh.

_Later…_

Darkness had fully settled over the land when Sly had arrived at the river. When he trekked through the _Makunga_ Mob's territory he took light steps so he would not be heard. Everyone had long since gone underground to sleep, so no one would see him. He knelt down to the water and gently submerged his bleeding paw, softly wincing when it stung. Sly was thinking to himself that he should've said some things different or said something at all, but he was hurt. He never expected that someone so sweet and caring could be taken away. But of course, he knew that a year ago it could happen in just an instant. But still, Sly could not help but feel guilt over her death. He felt his furry cheeks were suddenly wet and his nose was running. He decided it was alright; he could cry now, at least in privacy.

And then, he suddenly heard voices approaching. He recognized one voice as being Shani, so he decided not to run and hide. Instead, he cupped some water in his paws and splashed it over his face to hide that he was crying. Sly pretended he was just hearing the voices as they drew closer. "Do you _really_ need to bathe in the river?" Naysun asked as she looked to Shani.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't feel clean with just grooming," Shani replied with a shrug. "I need actual water and you said those shells weren't for bathing." She then took a good, long look at Naysun's dusty fur. "Besides, you could _use_ a bath."

"Oh, my fur is _not_ that--" Naysun began to protest as she looked ahead, and then stopped dead in her tracks, softly gasping and widening her eyes.

Shani wrinkled her brow at Naysun's sudden stop, and then turned to match her glance. There, kneeling next to the river with his face dripping in water, was her uncle Sly, his back still turned away. Still, she could recognize him for his strips on his back and dark hair. "Un… Uncle Sly?"

Sly's ears twitched briefly, and then he softly grinned to sound more like his normal self. "You're really gonna be the death of your father, pup. You know that, don't ya?" He continued to grin as he turned around to face her. His face quickly dissolved into one of shock when he saw Naysun standing next to her, his green eyes widening to their limits. His heart nearly skipped a beat.

"Ah, this is _just_ great," Shani sighed as she rubbed her forehead, not sensing the sudden change in the air. "First it was Kito, and now it's you? Oh, Dad's _gotta_ be here…" She turned to Naysun with a hesitant smile, but then wrinkled her brow when she began to walk forward, towards Sly. "Naysun?"

Naysun did not reply. She continued to walk forward as Sly stood normally on his feet. He still looked very surprised at the dirt-covered female that had come to a stop in front of him. She looked up at him, only a few inches away from actually touching him. She began to breathe heavily, as if she was trying to suppress herself from speaking. Sly wrinkled his brow and shook his head slightly, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "… You're--" He didn't finish his sentence, however, because Naysun punched him in the jaw, right where Nuru had hit him earlier. He landed back into the water, making a fairly large splash. The spot where he landed was not deep; only up to his knees.

"_**Naysun!**_" Shani gasped with wide eyes. "That's _Sly,_ don't you remember?"

Again, Naysun did not respond. She only glared a hole through Sly as he sat up and rubbed his jaw, dripping wet. "… I hope that hurt," she hissed with a sneer.

"When it's been punched in the same spot as earlier, then yes," Sly replied with a faint growl. "Nuru already got to me--"

"Well, I deserved to let _my_ feelings out, _**don't I?**_" she barked as she began to march into the water. "After you _left_ and didn't even **_come back--!_**"

Sly began to climb back onto his feet, his wet fur making it a little more difficult. "How was I _suppose_ to find you, use a carrier hornbill?" He was pushed back down into the water by Naysun, this time deeper. Sly re-emerged, coughing from the water that went up his nose. He noticed Naysun coming at him again, so he tripped her, causing her to fall back into the water with a yelp and a splash. He did that to try to avoid going into the deeper and stronger part of the river where they could both drown. "Besides, I remember a certain meerkat _telling me_ to leave before she started crying!" Shani stood on the bank, biting her thumb as she wondered if she should get into the middle of this or not…

Naysun rose from the water and lunged at Sly, landing on his back and bringing them both down into the water again. When they re-emerged again Sly had pulled her off and held her out in front of him. She was struggling against his grip. They were both sitting in the water. "_You were supposed to come back!_" Shani wrinkled her brow for a moment… Naysun's voice had suddenly gone from a higher pitch to a lower pitch, and the water was beginning to show the real color of her fur. It was such a dramatic difference. Naysun's new voice was choking back her tears and her fists her beating against Sly's chest, since that was the only thing she could hit while held back. "_You left us alone! You should've been here for us! Those brutes came and __**killed**__ her! You should've been there for her! You should've been there for __**me!**__ I hate you, Sly! __**I hate you, **__**I hate you!**_" She tried to resist Sly's arms trying to pull her closer to him, but after a brief moment she gave in and crashed her face into his wet chest, bawling like a pup.

Sly wrapped his arms around her, staring off into space for a few moments in a daze. The crying female in his arms was real… breathing… _alive._ His eyes weakened as he closed his eyes and tears ran down his cheeks again. "Shh… it's alright… you cry all you want…" he said softly, stroking her wet hair. "… I missed you, too… _Yasmin._" The meerkat in his arms paused for a moment. It had been quite some time since she has been called by her true name. This caused her to cry harder as she wrapped her arms around Sly and clutched onto his fur. Sly tightened his hug with a small smile. "… You're alive…"

Shani stared at the two of them in disbelief… she heard what he called her… Yasmin is _alive…_

_To be continued…_

Duh-duh-DUUUUUH! YES! _YES!_ If anyone of you saw that coming before this chapter, I'm gonna _shoot_ myself! Oh, _**yes,**_ I've been waiting to write that for two _**years!**_ Ohhhhh, man… … Mind if I smoke? Heh! Probably the biggest plot twist I've ever done. Ahh… and now, faithful readers, reviews and your story ideas! And please, **send a note about your story ideas through my page so _everyone else doesn't see it,_ in case I do use it. Don't write it in the review. **'Kay? OK, see you soon!


	44. Best You Can

Hey, welcome back! Sorry for the delay again; I know after the last chapter you've all been _itching_ to read this one. Well, it's finally here! I _had_ started writing a few weeks ago, but I had both a lukewarm case of writer's block on a few lines and lack of wanting to write. I guess after I finally wrote the scene I've wanted to write for a couple of years I'm not as up to writing, especially when I'm still working out a few details. I'm hoping that you, the readers, will give me some ideas I can use, or get inspiration drawn from your suggestions. Yes, in case you were recovering from the last scene to notice, I am now taking readers' suggestions on what should happen in this story. Please, if you have one or two, send it as a note through my profile page, so if I do use your suggestion no one else will see what MIGHT happen! Thus far I've only had one person do so!

Oh, and on a side note, I am now an aunt! My brother had his first baby November 3rd, Zachary. I am going to spoil that boy... Anyway, read on!

Chapter 44:

_Half an hour later…_

Despite that they had been awake since before dawn, Timon and Kito were still wide awake. They sat across from each other and tried to think of ways to help the _Makunga_ Mob out of their scrape. "This could be a little tricky, Kito…" Timon muttered as he tapped his foot in the dirt. "I'm usually asked to do something about hyenas, not meerkats… I'm not used to taking on guys my own size." _In fact,_ thought Timon, _I don't do well with them at all…_

"Doesn't that mean they'll be easier to get rid of?" Kito asked with a shrug.

"Nah-nah, with hyenas you just have run really fast and trick 'em into doing something you _want _'em to do, which is _really_ easy since their brains are _so_ much smaller than ours. Meerkats are smarter, so tricking them is easier said than done…"

Kito grinned and sat up with his chest puffed out. "Aw, c'mon, Dad, don't be so humble. You could take 'em with both paws tied behind your back." He then jumped to his feet and began to jump from side to side, throwing some mock punches. "Just _zig_ and _zag_ a little bit, lead 'em into a false sense of security, and then _wham-o!_ Heck, I could even see _me_ doing that! 'Yeah, yeah, I see you coming for me, but you can't touch me! You _can't_ touch me! Float like a ladybug, sting like a scorpion! _Hah!_'"

"First of all, slugger," Timon groaned as he watched his son, "if it was as easy as _that_ I'm sure Nuru or Naysun or anyone else would've done that by now, so why would they need _me?_ And second of all, _you_ were the one who got floored by that big palooka and nearly got yourself killed, so don't think that you can just go out there and expect to win so easily."

"If I knew that pile of sticks was gonna be there I wouldn't have tripped," the young meerkat shrugged, who continued to jump from side to side. "Anyway you were there to bail me out, so everything turned out OK. It won't happen again, Dad. Besides, _you're_ the son of Fearless Buzz, and _I'm _the son of Great Timon! Greatness is in our blood. Together, we can take 'em down!"

Timon stared blankly at Kito for a few moments. "… You ate something sugary behind my back, didn't you?" Kito frowned and furrowed his brow in reply. "Look, son, I don't want you to get hurt trying to be just like me, so just stay on the sidelines and sit on your hands. And this time I mean it. If anyone's gonna fight, it's just gonna be me, and maybe your uncles Sly and Pumbaa, if he ever shows up. Wonder what's taking him so long anyway…"

"I bet he stopped somewhere to smell the flowers… or wallow in the mud… whichever comes first."

"_Hey,_ I thought I told you guys not to dance without me!" Both meerkats turned their heads towards the entrance of the space, where an almost dry Sly was standing with a small grin. "It's like a Re-Enactment for adults… but with less shadow puppets and more amusement."

"Uncle Sly, where have you been?" Kito asked as he finally stopped jumping sideways. "I was just about to go out and look for you."

Sly arched a brow at his brother Timon at that. "You were gonna _let_ him go outside? The Pride Lands, at _night,_ Timon?"

"_Hey-hey-__**hey,**_I never agreed to anything like that!" Timon retorted with a furrowed brow. "It's just Kito saying something Kito-ish. We were talking about flowers… _yeesh._" Sly's grin widened as Timon coughed into his paw, mildly uncomfortable. "So, uh, what's with the wet-fur look?"

"Well," Sly began as he stepped inside, "it's kind of a long story--"

"We like stories," Kito returned as he sat down and folded his arms. "Especially the long stories."

With a light sigh Sly turned towards the entrance and made a "come in" gesture with his fingers. After a moment's hesitation the female who had been known as Naysun stepped into view of the hole and slowly walked inside. By this time her fur had mostly dried into its natural shades. Her once dark brow fur was now a lighter brown with a hint of peach, and her once grayish-brown hair was nearly identical to tree bark in color. Timon and Kito couldn't believe their eyes, and both of their jaws dropped to the ground. Timon pushed his jaw back into place and then he jumped to his feet with a stutter. "_Yasmin!_ Is that--? It can't-- you're-- … you're dead… and you're standing right in front of us. Oy… I think I'm gonna faint."

"Timon?" the female's eyes widened, and then she smiled as she ran him and threw her arms around him. "Timon, you really _are_ here! Just when we needed you!"

Timon grimaced as the "dead" meerkat hugged him tightly... but then he blinked. "Wait a second… you can't touch ghosts outside of dreams, and zombies aren't this warm… … Oh, I get it; you're Yasmin's sister Naysun, right?"

Kito wrinkled his brow as he walked over to his father and the female hugging him, and then he squinted at her. The female gave him a similar stare as she released Timon. "… No, Dad, she _is_ Yasmin! Look at her eyes."

"… Kito?" The young redheaded adult nodded as the female cupped his face in her paws. "I don't believe it; you-you're all grown-up. You look so much like your father."

Kito raised a brow. "You think so?" He took a look at his father Timon, who was grinning with pride and had his chest puffed out. Kito frowned and scrunched his face slightly. "… I just don't see it." Timon blinked and frowned with a furrowed brow. Sly slapped a paw over his eyes and laughed. The female held a paw over her mouth to contain her laughter.

"Then you should look in the water more often…" Timon and Kito's heads snapped towards the entrance when they heard the familiar voice. Shani stepped inside of the space slowly; a little nervous about the first thing she or her father Timon would say to each other. Indeed, there was a bit of tension coming from both of them as they exchanged stares. Timon looked relieved to see his daughter safe, but he also looked unsure. Shani looked and felt uncomfortable, and broke away from his stare. "So you _are_ here…"

"Did you expect me to be somewhere else?" Timon returned in an unusually soft voice. Shani faintly furrowed her brow as Timon moved past the female to reach her. "You left before I had a chance to talk to you--"

"There wasn't anything to talk about, _Dad,_" Shani interrupted in a soft, harsh voice. "You don't want me to be a meerkat at the oasis and that's all there is to it."

Timon furrowed his brow and raised a finger at her. "Don't use that tone of voice with _me,_ young la--!"

"_**Enough!**_" Timon and Shani suddenly became silent when Nuru's voice echoed in their ears. He stepped inside the space, waving his staff from side to side to avoid bumping into anyone. "You didn't come here to pick a fight with your father, Shani, remember?" Shani softly sighed and grimaced as Nuru gently separated the two of them. "You said you wanted answers, and here is the safest place for them."

Shani softly huffed, and then she moved past Timon to where Kito was now sitting. She was relieved to see him after their close call earlier, and leaned against him with a sigh. Kito softly exhaled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, silently expressing that he was happy to see her. "What're you doing back here, Nuru?" he asked.

"Yeah… weren't you sleeping?" Timon asked, his eyes still trained on Shani.

"I was," Nuru began as he stepped next to his sister, "but when Hafiz said he couldn't find Shani or my sister, I went out to find them." He turned his blind gaze towards Sly's scent. "I hadn't intended for you to find out about her, Sly, not like _that_ anyway."

Sly leaned against the wall and narrowed his eyes at the blind meerkat. "Were you just gonna keep her from meeting me, Nuru, so I wouldn't blab 'you're alive'?"

"You _did_ blab that, Sly," the female quietly pointed out, brushing the last of the knots out of her hair. "But to be fair I silenced you first."

"Don't remind me, Yasmin…" Sly faintly growled as he rubbed his slightly swelled jaw. "Not as if anyone heard--"

The female snapped, "You know you should never assume someone can't hear! You never know when someone dangerous could just wonder by and hear you…"

"She has a point," Timon mumbled as he glanced over at Kito and Shani. A year ago the two of them had overheard Panya revealing to Timon that he had a brother once, which lead to Kito and Bango setting off to find him.

"She's being paranoid," Sly scoffed, waving the comment off. "Sure, it's better to keep secrets, but keeping it to yourself isn't exactly healthy."

Nuru narrowed his eyes to Sly as he stepped up to him, staring straight at him. "We're not called the _Makunga_ Mob because we use secret handshakes, Sly. Secrets keep us alive… which is why the bosses don't know of my real handicap, nor do they know that the meerkat we've been calling Naysun is actually our previous leader."

Shani's eyes widened with a soft gasp. She turned her eyes to the female, whose eyes were trained to the ground. "Then you really _are_ Yasmin." Keeping her eyes to the ground the female who had been known as Naysun sighed and nodded once. Shani felt like she had just been punched in the chest. "Did you always know, Nuru? I mean, since you can't _see_ her--"

"I may be blind," Nuru began as he put a paw onto Yasmin's shoulder, "but I can I tell my sisters apart, and not just by smell. They've imitated each other as a game to try and confuse me, but their voices never perfectly 'matched.'"

"We were pretty close, though…" Yasmin pointed out with a small, sad smile.

"But… if _you're_ Yasmin… then--then who's grave…?" Shani's voice trailed off when she figured it out, and covered her mouth with a gasp. Kito tightened the grip he had on his sister and swallowed the lump in his throat. Yasmin clutched a paw in front of her mouth and struggled to keep herself from crying. Nuru let his staff drop to the ground and pulled Yasmin into a hug, both for comfort and to let her face bury itself in his chest. Timon felt nauseous as the color drained from Sly's face.

"… That's right," Nuru nodded with a faint choke in his voice, Yasmin already sobbing into his chest. "Our sister _is_ buried there…"

Sly's eyes weakened as he gasped and turned his eyes to the ground. "Naysun… That was _Naysun's_ grave?" His face scrunched into a growl and his head snapped to face Nuru and Yasmin. "_**How?**_ _**Why?**_"

"… Naysun… she told them… she was _me…_" Yasmin whispered in-between her sobs. She welcomed her brother tightening his hug and listened to his quickening heartbeat. "She didn't want…" She shook her head; she couldn't bring herself to continue.

Nuru softly shushed her as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Not another word. I'll tell them what happened." He then softly sighed and turned his gaze back to the group. "It's a little complicated to tell the story, especially when you're accustomed to lying about certain parts… I'm not sure if I can, accurately anyway…"

There was a moment of silence, as if there was a dare placed to break it. Breaking away from her brother's embrace, Shani accepted the dare. "Please…" Nuru turned his eyes to her specifically, as if he could actually see the sad, sympathetic expression spread across her face. She placed her small paws onto his left forearm, which held his sister against him. "I… I didn't know the real Naysun… yet I feel as if I could've loved her anyway, at least as a very dear friend. I know it's hard, Nuru, but…" She gave his arm a light squeeze and bit her lower lip. "Please… the best you can… _please_ tell us what happened to her."

The eyes are the window to the soul, but because of his long and thick bangs no one could always look inside Nuru. But there was no mistaking it… from under his bangs a single tear ran down his right cheek. Sly arched his brow when he saw that, mildly surprised. Nuru was not known to show such softness in front of people he didn't or barely knew. He would normally hide it better than that. Surely, a year couldn't have made him more open, right? Or was it… no, it wouldn't be her… With a faint sniff Nuru rubbed his cheek against his sister's hair to remove the tear, and then he sighed. "… The best I can…"

_To be continued…_

Sorry for yet _another_ cliffhanger, guys! Not that I've written it yet, but I predict that the flashback that's coming up next will take a few pages, and really works better as a separate chapter. Soon more questions shall be revealed, at least Yasmin/Naysun wise. Hopefully I'll catch myself calling Yasmin Naysun and fix it. When I first started I think I remember I was calling Naysun Yasmin. Heh… OK, remember 'bout the story suggestions and sending them via personal notes on my member's page. And _please_ eliminate the obvious like "Pumbaa needs to find his way there" or "tell Shani that Barika is alive and/or have a chance meeting with her" or even "Sly and Yasmin need to kiss and make up." Those kinds of things are a-given and somewhat planned already. Anyway, hope to see you all soon, and early Happy Holidays!


	45. Wounds That Won't Heal

… Is 13 months long enough to keep you people on the edge of your seats? … Does anyone remember this story? … Is anyone here? _Hellooooooo?_ Well, anyone who's reading this now may or may not have any recollection to it or to me, but about a year ago I had kind of lost interest in writing and just… well, left this story to collect dust. I kept telling myself, "OK, you REALLY need to work on this story" but then when I sit down to do so I feel like I've lost the connection to my creative motivation. I'm hoping as I continue to write it'll come back. And, I'm sorry to say, during the hiatus I haven't come up with much, still the same scenes to set up for later. But, I'm happy to say that by watching _Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa_ I regained some enthusiasm. … Does anyone who saw that movie feel like they copied off me on certain things? I won't detail any spoilers, except one of the new characters is called Makunga. … Is anyone still reading this or did they all skip ahead to read the chapter? I don't blame you. I'm hoping I can get back into the swing of things before too long. No absolute promises, but I'll try to promise not to wait a year before posting something new. Keep your reviews nice and friendly, no threats and we'll all get along nicely.

PS, I may still make grammar mistakes here and there that I don't notice, so I've taken the liberty of hiring a Beta reader. I pay her in oxygen, tee hee. And now, if you haven't gone back a few chapters to reacquaint yourselves with everything, here is Chapter 45!

Chapter 45:

For several moments in that small space, under the dead tree, the only sounds that could be heard were the gentle chirps of crickets and steady to somewhat heavy breathing. The group of meerkats sat in a circle, staring intently at the two siblings, Nuru and Yasmin. Yasmin, previously known to Shani as Naysun, the younger sister of the siblings, revealed moments ago that it was Naysun, not her, who had died recently. The group of outsiders, consisting of Timon, Sly, Kito, and Shani, had many questions they wanted answered… and the first was this: how had Naysun died? Hafiz, who left the tunnels to find Shani, found himself at the entrance, once again the look-out. After asking for a few minutes to gather himself, Nuru inhaled deeply, gently bowed his head, and allowed his thick bangs to shield his scarred, blind eyes once more. "Alright… I'm ready…"

"Finally," Timon frowned, folding his arms over his chest and drumming his fingers impatiently. "You've been sitting there quiet for so long I was beginning to think you died or something--"

Yasmin snapped her head to glare at Timon and hissed, "**Don't you **_**dare**_** joke about that!**" Timon gulped and grimaced at her expression, feeling somewhat afraid for his life. Yasmin's eyes were clearly tearing up again, but she fought to hold them back. "It's hard enough to remember what happened without you pestering us about it! So be satisfied you're going to learn about our sister's death at all!"

Timon held his paws up and gave a nervous smile accompanied by an equally nervous chuckle. "OK-OK, sorry… it's been a rough couple of days--"

"**Don't you even **_**start**_** to compare--!**" Yasmin gasped when Nuru gripped onto her shoulders with both paws, his bangs parted enough to reveal one of his scarred eyes. His blind eye stared at her and narrowed very faintly, as if silently scolding and telling her to calm down. After a moment to read her brother's face the female sighed and looked back to Timon with a small, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Timon… it's just been so hard and we've all been under a lot of stress… especially Nuru and me. I'm sorry."

"Eh-heh… apology accepted," Timon replied, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He glanced over at Shani for a moment, who was sitting opposite of him next to Kito. "I can sympathize." Shani furrowed her brow slightly and looked away from him with a soft grunt. She was still angry at him lying and yelling at her for her instincts, and the fact that now that he found her she had lost her leverage with the _Makunga_ Mob, a week of meerkat lessons in exchange for the oasis's location, didn't help either. Timon frowned at her, annoyed with her attitude towards him. _Great… Kito thinks he's a fighter and Shani's finally going through her crazy teenage "I hate my father" stage… as an adult. I've heard of late bloomers, but... where did I go _wrong_ with these pups?_

Kito looked back and forth between his sister and father for a moment, feeling increasingly unsteady being so close to them. _I wish I had a sharp rock to cut the tension with…_ He coughed into one paw while the other held up a finger. "So, uh… how 'bout them Lions, huh?" All eyes, seeing and unseeing, turned to the young redheaded meerkat with puzzled expressions. "They're into everything these days, heavy hitters and all that, y'know?" He chuckled a little, receiving an elbow into his side by a lightly grinning Shani. "I know, I know… but I couldn't breathe with all this heat!"

"Kito, if you're not used to the heat by now, see a shaman," Timon said with a roll of his eyes and a small grin on his lips.

"Why bother?" Sly, sitting beside Timon, asked. With a roll of his green eyes he added, "That chimp Rafiki is the only shaman out here, and he'll just smack him on the head and say 'Take two bananas and call Rafiki in de morning.'"

Timon grimaced and folded his arms. "Yeah, and then he'll charge me an arm and a leg for his mystic mumbo jumbo." He gave half of a shrug and tilted his head. "The mumbo I can understand, but the jumbo is practically dirt-cheap. Then I end up slipping on the banana peels he prescribes Kito and break something, and then I'll mope because then I remember I can't sue him because there aren't any good lawyers who would defend a meerkat without eating him."

"Why, are all the 'lawyers' out here snakes and hyenas?" Shani, who still did not understand the full concept of the food chain, asked with a blink.

Timon opened his mouth to correct her, but then he stopped and wrinkled his brow to consider what she had said. A moment passed and he replied with a smile, "Why… yes, Shani… that's exactly what lawyers are."

"… Are you all done now?" Nuru asked in a flat tone, a little annoyed that he had finally announced he was ready, only to be ignored by a round or two of bickering.

Kito gulped, Shani coughed into her paw and faintly blushed, Sly mumbled an apology, and Timon rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward grin. "Eh-heh-heh… yeah, sorry," Timon said. "We're a captive audience now; we can't leave until you sing."

Nuru faintly grinned and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Timon, but I don't sing." The hint of a grin faded as the blind meerkat added, "So since you're my 'captive' audience I can't let you leave until I do a spoken-word rendition."

"Are you sure you want to, Nuru?" Hafiz, who had turned from the entrance to look at Nuru's back, asked with some hesitance. "You're not exactly… I mean, I know how you get and I could--"

"No." Nuru turned his face towards Hafiz's voice, his bangs covering his eyes once more and his mouth in a straight line. "I said I would, and I will. My stomach is going to hurt no matter who tells it anyway." He gently pulled Yasmin up against him and wrapped his arms around her front, softening his tone. "Besides, Yasmin wouldn't be able to tell it any better… and she wouldn't be able to be a good look-out with tears in her eyes, so you just stay where you are, Hafiz." Yasmin's eyes weakened and her stomach felt uneasy as she dreaded hearing the tale again, but she knew it had to be told the right way. Inhaling deeply once more, Nuru raised his face to the gathered meerkats and swallowed. "This isn't easy for us, but I'll try to tell the story the best that I can. … Three months ago… it started off like any other day…"

_Three months ago…_

The sky was filled with light gray clouds with only peeks of afternoon sunlight. Some meerkats were returning to their tunnels with rocks and sticks to aid in the construction of their ever-growing tunnels. In the months since they had moved from the Outlands back to the Pride Lands the _Makunga_ Mob had been living relatively comfortably in their new home… for the most part at least. Yasmin and Naysun were working in one part of the south wing, Naysun was propping a stick up to the ceiling while Yasmin mixed up a batch of clay in a coconut shell.

"I'm tired… is our shift over yet?" Naysun asked with a pout, wiping some sweat off of her forehead. When she heard no reply she looked over to her sister with a blink. "… Yasmin?" Yasmin was in a daze as her clay-stained paws began to slow, before completely stopping and lying still in the clay. With a frown Naysun abandoned her work to step over to Yasmin with her paws on her hips. "If you're going to ignore me at least say so…"

"… Huh?" Yasmin glanced up from her clay to Naysun, who now had a dry expression. Yasmin wrinkled her brow slightly and tilted her head to one side. "I'm sorry, Naysun, were you saying something?"

Sighing, Naysun rubbed her temple and closed her eyes with a furrowed brow. "Is clay more interesting than your own sister all of a sudden? Or were you day-dreaming again?"

"… Which do you want me to say?" she responded with a half-nervous grin.

"Ugh… Yasmin, this is getting really irritating. Ever since the massacre last summer we've been short on workers and we're supposed to be helping, but you keep spacing out! What if there's a cave-in or--?"

Scoffing, Yasmin pulled her paws out of the clay and arched a brow at her younger sister. "Naysun, no one is _that_ bad…" She stood, wiping the excess clay from her stained paws with an annoyed sigh. "I don't mind the work, it's just..." Her expression softened as she looked to the side of the tunnel, her eyes misting ever-so faintly. "I wonder about Sly… if he's happy or not…"

"Sly again? If you're going to be distracted from work because of him why did you let him leave in the first place? Why didn't you tell him to stay here instead of abandoning us?" Naysun's eyes began to water as she stomped her foot and furrowed her brow. "You're the leader now! You could've ordered him to stay! _I_ didn't want him to leave, not so soon after all that happened!"

"Oh, grow up!" Yasmin snapped at her, her lip close to curling into a growl. "You think I was happy to see him go? No, not after all we've been through together! He never wanted to be here anyway, he didn't love me, so what was the point in keeping him around?!" She clenched her jaw as she put her paw over her heart and clenched her fist. "A constant _twist_ in my chest, looking at him every day and knowing I could never have him… I wouldn't be able to bear it if he stayed. I had hoped he would return my love, but it was useless…" Her face bore great pain for a moment, but she quickly abandoned it and replaced it with anger and faced Naysun again. "You have no idea what that's like, so just--!"

A sudden and painful slap to her cheek both silenced and stunned the elder sister. Seeing as she had really surprised her Naysun shoved Yasmin into a pile of loose dirt that was being used to make the clay, stirring up a small cloud of dirt. Yasmin rolled from her back onto her stomach coughing while Naysun stood and watched, breathing heavily and glaring daggers at her sister. "… Don't you dare accuse me of not knowing what it's like… what it's like to love someone and to not have the feelings returned…" Yasmin coughed a few more times as she wiped some dirt from her lips. When she pulled her paw back she noticed a light trace of blood on the back of her paw. She suddenly realized when she was slapped she had bitten her tongue and winced. "You think you're the only one in pain?" Naysun continued, tears now flowing freely from her eyes. "It hurts… it hurts, do you hear me?!"

"Wha--? Who--?" Yasmin began, clueless.

"You think you were the only one?" Naysun sneered as she walked around to the other side of the dirt pile… and then kicked some right into Yasmin's face, causing her to cough again. "Why did you have to have Sly? Why?!" Now in a thin layer of dirt Yasmin's eyes widened when she realized-- "I loved him far more than you did! I did! Don't you realize how much that hurt me, watching you two being together?!" Naysun put a paw over her heart and clenched her fist. "A constant twist in _my_ chest, looking at you and him every day and knowing I could never have him!" She clamped her eyes shut, tears continuing to fall. "You could've let me have a chance… if nothing else just made him stay… We had just lost over half of our colony and Father and I didn't want to lose him, too…" She reopened her eyes and stared at the stunned Yasmin with sad, pain-filled eyes. "It hurts, Yasmin… it hurts me to lose someone I love… I can't stand it…"

A sudden sensation of guilt swept over Yasmin as she watched her sister cry. She began to reach out to her, "Naysun--"

Naysun took a step away from her to avoid being touched by her, and wiped her cheeks dry. "You always got what you wanted… except for Sly, and you can't deal with the rejection, can you? You gave him the chance and he abandoned us… you spoiled--!" She gritted her teeth as she tried to find a word that was appropriate.

"_Naysun--_" Yasmin stood, some of the dirt flaking off of her fur as she did. The younger sister turned away from her and ran to the nearest tunnel exit, followed in suite by the elder sister. "Naysun, would you stop--?!" Naysun had stopped when she had noticed some workers were preparing to enter with sticks and stones, but as Yasmin did not see them nor did she react in time she ran right into her, knocking her and the first three workers in line down. Stones and sticks scattered around as the five meerkats lay in a small heap. "… I didn't mean to so abruptly…" Yasmin mumbled to her sister lying beneath her.

"I'm not talking to you," Naysun glared up at her, quickly wiping her eyes and cheeks dry again as they were being helped back to their feet.

A few meerkats with their supplies had set them aside to help set the fallen meerkats upright, circling around them and dusting their fur off. The meerkat who was grooming Yasmin blinked at the amount of dirt that was flaking off. "Naysun, I thought you weren't digging tod--" He stopped in mid-sentence when Yasmin turned her sky-blue eyes to him and arched a brow. He then looked over towards Naysun, whose eyes were a darker shade of blue. With an embarrassed chuckle he said, "S-Sorry, Yasmin. It's just that you're always so neat and tidy and Naysun gets down and dirty when she works. At first glance I couldn't tell…"

With a sigh Yasmin brushed the meerkat's paw away from her arm. "It's an honest mistake, Odion, thank you." Naysun furrowed her brow slightly and grunted, and began to turn away. Yasmin frowned and grabbed onto her shoulder to prevent her from leaving. "I _told_ you to stop. I'm not done with you yet," she said sternly.

"And I told _you_ I'm not talking to you, so just butt out!" Naysun snapped.

"Fine… I'll talk, and you, pay attention--" She had her mouth open to continue, but then she realized that they had an audience and narrowed her eyes. "… Do you guys think… maybe in the very near future… I could possibly have a moment _alone_ with my sister?" The meerkats watching quickly realized and mumbled their apologies as they began to collect the rocks and sticks they had dropped or set aside. Yasmin softly sighed and turned back to Naysun with a soft expression, and planted her paws squarely onto her shoulders. "Naysun, I'm--"

"_**Rogues! **_Every--!" A pained scream was heard, which caused everyone to drop what they were doing to turn towards it.

Naysun recognized the scream and gasped, "Fidela!" She shrugged out of her sister's grip to try to rush to the meerkat's aid, only to be held back by Yasmin and blocked by the other workers still above ground. "Let me go, Yasmin! Fidela's hurt! She needs our help!"

"Think before you act, Naysun!" Yasmin softly growled as she held her sister up against her. "If you just rush in there _you_ could get hurt!" She looked to the workers in front of her and said, "Form a circle around us until she calms down, so she can't break through." The meerkats nodded and did as they were told. They formed a circle of five meerkats, each facing the direction the sentry named Fidela was heard and the rogues were told to be coming from. Three more meerkats stood in front of the circle to make it seem less obvious that they were hiding something, or someone.

Standing near the sentry tree were two strangers, one was red-headed and muscular, and the other had dirty hazel hair with a hint of green and was thinner. On the ground was the sentry Fidela, who was wincing from the sturdy stick attack to her back. "Now-now-now," the hazel-haired meerkat cooed as he tapped the sturdy stick in the palm of his paw, "that's not a nice way to announce your guests…" He jerked his thumb to the stoned-faced meerkat next to him. "My friend here resents being called a rogue… demeaning and all that."

"A rogue is a rogue no matter what you call it…" Fidela winced as she began to set herself back up. "If you call a cobra 'Fluffy' it doesn't make him any less venomous…"

"_Ooo,_ not nice… someone needs to be taught her manners, don't you think, Kano?"

The larger meerkat named Kano held his paw out to the smaller meerkat. "Don't waste your time with the small fry, Kali," he said, casting his eyes towards the small group of meerkats nearby and lightly sneered. "She's not the one we have to get past…" He began to walk towards the group, his eyes never wavering away from them.

The smaller meerkat named Kali snorted as he began to follow, but stopped when he heard someone drop down behind him. He turned in time to receive a punch to his nose and collapsed to the ground. Nuru rubbed his fist, having waited in the tree until the most appropriate moment to drop down. "It's getting so a meerkat can't even get a decent nap anymore…" he mumbled as he bent over and offered a paw to Fidela. She took his paw and was hoisted back to her feet, wincing still. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live, thank you," Fidela replied as she rubbed her back. "But you should be more worried about Yasmin than-- Nuru, look out!"

Before Nuru could react Kali had recovered and struck Nuru in the back with the same stick, which later would be revealed to be his staff. Nuru landed on the ground with a grunt, and Kali's foot stomped down onto his back to keep him in place. "Now, that was _really_ not nice," Kali hissed as he rubbed his red and enlarged nose. Fidela gritted her teeth and ran ahead back towards the tunnel, making it past Kano and into the safety of the gathered group. "Hey, Kano, why does 'Yasmin' sound so familiar?" Kali called to Kano, who was several steps away from him.

"… Yasmin?" Kano stopped and looked back towards Kali, sneering.

"That sentry, she just said they should be more worried about 'Yasmin.'" Fidela, now within the enclosed circle with Yasmin and Naysun, covered her mouth as she regretted saying that out loud. Yasmin and Naysun both gave her equally dry, disapproving looks.

"Yasmin… hmm, the only meerkat Yasmin I know of is…" Kano turned his eyes back towards the group and cracked his knuckles. "… The leader of the infamous _Makunga_ Mob." Yasmin bit her lip as the large meerkat correctly identified the group, and tightened her grip on Naysun, who responded in kind. "Whether you're that mob or not, we are here and we're coming in. So, Yasmin, if you're in there, either you come out here and face me like a real meerkat, or I'll pick off each and every one of your followers here until I find you… starting with the one under Kali's foot there."

Fidela's eyes widened to the size of eagle eggs as Yasmin and Naysun exchanged horrified looks. "Nuru…!" Naysun began to struggle to get out of her sister's grip to aid her brother, but Yasmin held her firmly to keep her from acting recklessly.

Nuru groaned as Kali's foot pressed harder against his sore back, causing him to grit his teeth and clench the dirt under his paws. "She won't come out to a threat like that," he growled loud enough to be heard by all. "She knows we'd all take a fall for her, so go ahead and try! And then we'll see how many followers you have left to boss around."

Kano glared back at the grounded meerkat, his lip curled back into a snarl. "You won't mind if I _test_ this theory, will you?" He turned back to the group and sneered, "Alright, Yasmin, I'm sure you're in there, and I must inform you that I have a very bad temper and little patience…" Yasmin swallowed hard as she listened to the large meerkat addressing her. "So, how about we try it like this: every time I call out your name and you continue to hide like some spineless worm, Kali will hit your friend with his stick, until either you show yourself or he's dead. Do you hear that, _Yasmin?_" A solid whack and a pained shout from Nuru caused both Yasmin's and Naysun's stomachs to ache. Yasmin tightened her grip on Naysun, both for comfort and to keep her from escaping. The meerkats who were in view cringed as they watched Nuru take a beating, but they were not going to reveal Yasmin to them. Kano's eyes glanced over to Kali and Nuru for a moment. "What do you think hurts more, _Yasmin--?_" There came another whack and another cry of pain. "What do you think; to be beaten to death or to watch or listen to someone being beaten to death? What do you think? Or do you even care if he lives or dies?" Yasmin stayed where she was, panting heavily as she tried to think of what to do without just rushing out there, but hearing her name over and over followed by hearing her brother in pain were distracting her. There had to be a way…

"Make them stop, make them stop!" Naysun softly begged Yasmin, her eyes clenched tightly and tears streaming down her face. She gripped onto her sister's arms with trembling paws. "They're killing him! Make them stop!"

"Calm down! Let me think…" Yasmin replied in a mumble, clenching her teeth as she stared through the meerkats guarding them to the two rogues. "If I just rush in there without a plan to chase them off you could lose both Nuru _and_ me…" Naysun's eyes widened with the realization and paused, silent. "If that happens and if you kept quiet about our relation you might stay alive… no, you'd _have_ to stay alive, because then _you'd_ be the leader…" Naysun looked to the ground and bit her lip, considering what Yasmin had just said.

Kano had grown silent after a few minutes, after saying Yasmin's name and causing Kali to strike Nuru over and over with various threats and taunts. Nuru laid on the ground, bruised with a few stray cuts along his back and panting heavily. His paws were tightly clenched, within them were tightly packed dirt. Hearing the silence he raised his head up slightly and mustered a tired grin. "What's the matter, rogue? Are you pouting because I was right?" His grin faded as he heard heavy stomping approaching him.

Kano's face was red and his blood was boiling as he snatched the staff from Kali's paws and knelt down to Nuru with a sneer. He breathed heavily as he tried to contain his temper for a moment longer. As if he could sense it Nuru returned the sneer, although it was unseen through his thick bangs. "I'm not done yet…" Nuru bared his clenched teeth as he decided it was probably his only chance to get a hit in before he died, if not to cause a little distraction. He took his paw that was closest to Kano, his left paw, and flung the dirt in the direction he felt his breathing. Kano reared back with a yell and pawed at the dirt in his eyes. Kali, sensing that something very physical was about to happen, took several steps back from Nuru in preparation. Hearing movement away from him Nuru began to crawl away to where the scent of the others was strongest. He didn't get far, however, because Kano had recovered and driven the staff into his stomach with such force Nuru actually screamed from the intense pain. He grasped onto his stomach, coughing violently as Kano continued to rub his eyes. "He's still alive? Darn it, I was aiming for his head… I can't see right…" Kano blinked several times, but his vision was still fairly blurry.

"A little more to your left, Kano, and you'll get him!" Kali called over as he leaned against the tree, keeping a fair distance away so he wouldn't be caught in the middle.

"Thank you, Kali," Kano continued to blink as he turned towards the large blob where the group of meerkats had been standing. "This is your last chance, Yasmin! Either show yourself or I'll put this miserable excuse for a life out of his misery!" Nuru gasped for air as he silently begged Yasmin to stay hidden… he wasn't worth it… His eyes widened as he pushed himself up to hack blood into his dirty paw. "And if you don't… he'll be the first of many… so _**come out here!**_"

"… Yasmin?" a small voice spoke from Yasmin's arms. Yasmin looked down, seeing that it belonged to a sorrow-eyed Naysun. "I'm sorry… for everything I said to you… and everything I did to you… I've just kept it inside me for so long, I couldn't take it anymore…"

Yasmin's eyes weakened as she lightly brushed her paw against her sister's cheek. She didn't have a plan, but she couldn't allow these rogues to kill Nuru and leave her sister alone. That would be the worst thing she could do to her. "… It's alright, Naysun… you're forgiven. I'm s--"

"Forgive me for this, too--" Naysun took a deep breath and kneed Yasmin in the stomach, shocking her enough to lose her grip on her and tumble back into Fidela's arms. Yasmin stared at her, dumbfounded, until Naysun said, "For the good of the colony, you have to stay alive. I can't let you die... it hurts too much. And someone _has_ to do this. I'm sorry, Yasmin…" Before Yasmin could react Naysun shoved her way through the ring of meerkats protecting her, a few of them mistakenly calling her "Yasmin" from the first glance in an attempt to stop her. Yasmin's eyes widened as she realized what she was about to do and tried to go after her, but Fidela held her tight to protect her. Just as Kano was about to raise the staff above his head to strike down Nuru, Naysun yelled out, "_**STOP!**_ Don't hurt him anymore, _**please!**_"

Kano's ear twitched as he paused in mid-swing, preventing him from hitting the back of Nuru's head. He turned towards the voice and squinted at the approaching meerkat, his eyes still blurry from the dirt in his eyes. Nuru was laying almost limp on the ground, panting from his coughing fit and barely gripping onto consciousness. He heard one of his sisters' voices begging the large meerkat to stop… but in his current condition his mind couldn't make out which one it was. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it as Kano stepped away from him to approach Naysun. "Are you Yasmin?" Kano asked in a low tone.

"Yes, I'm Yasmin," Naysun lied, deepening her voice to sound more like her sister. She and Yasmin would sometimes imitate each other to try to fool Nuru, but he could always tell the difference. Others were often very confused because they imitated each other almost perfectly. "You've made your point; you're big and you're scary… but beating a defenseless meerkat half to death doesn't prove that you're strong! It just shows you're weak, in body _and_ mind."

"… Weak? _**Weak?!**_" Kano roared as he swung the staff at Naysun, who barely managed to duck it in time. She continued to duck and back away as he violently swung the staff from side to side, his blurred vision keeping him from making an accurate hit. "You cowered in the crowd this whole time, then you come out and give me orders, and now you _dare_ to call _**me**_ _**WEAK?!**__**HOLD STILL!**_" Naysun began to duck to the right, but that was when the staff struck her side. She yelled out in pain, the impact sending her rolling hard into a small, outcropped rock. Her head hit the rock, and suddenly, she laid still. The gathered meerkats stared in horror, their mouths gaping open. Yasmin managed to escape Fidela's grip and pushed her way past the stunned meerkats to see… No words could describe the horror and sorrow in her face. Her heart screamed as one meerkat pulled her into his chest, so that she wouldn't stare anymore and to offer some comfort. Kano waited for the female to make a move… and then he scoffed and rubbed his eyes as he walked towards the group of meerkats. "She called _me_ weak? She breaks easier than I do," he mused as he tossed the staff aside. He smirked to the gathered meerkats, who backed away and to the side to avoid him. "We'll just let ourselves in…" And with that, he disappeared underground.

Kali, seeing that the dirty work was done, dusted his paws off as he began to follow Kano's path. "Don't stay up here too long… have your moment of mourning and then get back to work," he grinned confidently. "Tunnels to build, new leaders to show off, ladies to meet, all that." He raised a brow and hummed a quiet approval as he glanced at the female meerkat being hugged by another male, and then he joined Kano underground.

As soon as the outsiders were gone the group dispersed and split up between the two fallen meerkats. Fidela had picked up the discarded staff as she approached Nuru with some hesitation, fearing he had died of his wounds while their attention was drawn elsewhere. Thankfully, this was not the case. Nuru winced and groaned as he was carefully helped back to his feet by two other meerkats. "_Aahh_… easy, I break easy…" Nuru mumbled as he was set upright. He rubbed his eyes tiredly under his thick bangs. "Are they gone?"

"… They're inside, Nuru…" Fidela said gently, grasping his paw and setting his staff inside.

Nuru's eyes suddenly widened; he had passed out at some point when Naysun approached Kano and thus, did not know what had just happened. "_No…_" He dropped his staff to grasp onto Fidela's shoulders tightly, his blind eyes staring at her desperately. "Where is she?!" Fidela glanced over to the other group and bit her lip, unsure how to answer him. "Fidela! Where is my sister?!"

"… She's over there… by the outcropped rock…"

With renewed strength Nuru began to march towards the rock without his staff. He had memorized the area well enough not to trip over something, and the scent of other meerkats guided him the rest of the way. When he arrived, he heard the one sound he had hoped never to hear again: his sister crying. Yasmin was holding Naysun's limp form against her and crying, her tears smearing the dirt on her cheeks. "_Why…?_" Yasmin whispered in-between her sobs. "Why did you do this… without letting me say I'm sorry? All the pain I've put you through… and I never once considered your feelings… Yet you died to protect me…" She held her sister tightly as she began to cry harder. "You're a far greater meerkat than I can ever hope to be. I'm so sorry, Naysun… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!"

The meerkats gathered didn't try to disturb Yasmin in this state… they merely bowed their heads in respected silence for the meerkat who sacrificed her life for her family. Nuru stood stock still as he listened to his sister proclaim her regrets and tightened his fists. He wanted to join his sister in tears, but for her sake he knew he had to be strong… He merely bit his lip and dropped down to his knees to be at Yasmin's level. She looked back at him, slowly released her sister's body, and threw her arms around Nuru, thankful that she hadn't lost him as well. Even though he was in pain Nuru still held Yasmin tightly… he could endure it, because his heart was wounded far worse than his body…

_Present…_

The group sat in silence as the tale ended. Yasmin had her face buried into Nuru's chest, who responded by holding her tightly and stroking her hair. Hafiz leaned against the entrance wall with his fingers pressed against his temple, occasionally letting out a sniffle or two. Shani sniffled as she wiped her eyes and cheeks dry of tears. Kito lowered his eyes and wrapped an arm around Shani's shoulders for comfort, both hers and his own. Timon's eyes were lowered to the ground, briefly reminded of the heart ache he felt when his father Buzz was killed. Sly was silently gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, angered by Naysun's death. Perhaps, if he had stayed…

"… Since then," Nuru continued after a pause, "my stomach hasn't been good to me, ever since Kano struck me. It always feels like my stomach is turning inside-out when I'm reminded of that day." He softly sighed as he continued to stroke Yasmin's hair. "Because we didn't want Naysun's sacrifice to be in vain we've just let them continue to think it was Yasmin who had died. They never questioned the resemblance between her and Naysun, so we're guessing Kano was blinded enough that he either couldn't tell or he didn't take the time to memorize her face when he…" He trailed off as he grimaced from the brief pain in his stomach. When it passed he rubbed Yasmin's back, softly shushing her as she continued to softly cry into his chest.

"And obviously, Kali kept his distance well enough that he couldn't get a good enough look at Naysun either," Hafiz added, looking back into the group. "Since Naysun pretended to be Yasmin, Yasmin decided to pretend to be Naysun, so that she could still call Nuru her brother and remain safe until the time was right." He looked to the side as he shrugged, "When the _Makunga_ Mob was made famous for the creation of the _Nunda_ it was Yasmin's name that was recognized. Nothing was ever said about her having siblings, so Kano and Kali just assumed that she didn't." He turned his glance over to Yasmin, who had stopped crying and was now leaning her head on Nuru's shoulder. "The reason why Yasmin kept her fur dirty since then is because Naysun was the messier sister, thus she didn't groom as excessively as Yasmin. She wanted everyone to remember that she was Naysun now, not Yasmin. We've now gotten into the habit of calling her 'Naysun' in private because of her dirty fur."

Sly looked up from his clenched paws for a moment to look at Yasmin, and gave her a small smile. "That's probably also a disguise for any stray meerkat like Timon or me who might come along and recognize you, right?" Yasmin closed her eyes, which were tired from the stress and the crying, and nodded once. "Well, I'm sorry that I recognized you then… If it makes you feel better I didn't recognize your scent right away." A small hint of a smile appeared on Yasmin's lips, which disappeared again as she sighed.

"We've managed to dodge around a lot of things with those two," Nuru added. "We've managed to get away with calling 'Yasmin' our sister in a sort of affectionate 'not-really-but-we're-very-close' kind of way. And I've gotten out of physical duty by pretending I was lame, and thus I'm almost always put on sentry duty. We usually stay in character unless we're sure we're safe enough to drop the act, but that's not often." He softly sighed and turned his head aside. "You can call us paranoid all you want, but you can't always see or smell when someone is within hearing range."

Hafiz turned his gaze over to Timon, who had raised his eyes to watch them. "We've been doing this for three months now… we've managed to fool them so far, but we're starting to wear down. Nuru actually threw a fit yesterday about having to keep pretending he was sighted in front of Shani." Nuru turned his face towards Hafiz's voice and softly growled. Shani blinked once, and softly giggled, but not enough that Nuru would hear. Hafiz coughed into his paw as he continued, "_Anyway,_ Timon, I would suggest planning on getting rid of Kano first, for safety's sake."

"Are you talking about _his_ safety or _mine?_" Timon asked with an arched brow. "Because I feel like I'd be somewhat safer around this Kali guy…" Shani's eyes widened slightly as she remembered her encounter with Kali earlier that day. She was about to open her mouth to reveal her theory that Kali may actually be Makali from her mother's colony, but she was cut off.

"We wouldn't advise it," Nuru interrupted with a straight face. "Kano is very unpredictable when he gets angry; his attacks are random and swift. Kali isn't as dangerous, but you'll never get to him without getting through that stone wall with fur anyway. Once Kano was been dealt with you won't have to worry about Kali as much."

Timon lightly grimaced as he folded his arms over his chest. "Well, OK, but I'm still gonna need some time to think up a plan. I might sneak by the colony during the day tomorrow to observe their behavior and maybe their weaknesses from a distance. We don't want to repeat a performance like the one we had this afternoon, _right,_ Kito?"

"He was asking for it," Kito mumbled with his arms folded. Timon narrowed his eyes a bit and arched a brow. Kito stared back at him and shrugged, "What?" Shani moved her paw in front of her mouth and softly giggled at the expressions on both of their faces, and then she cleared her throat as they turned to her and stared dryly.

"… At any rate, it's late; we should get back to the colony," Hafiz spoke up and turned to face the group fully. "We're going to have to take a nice dirt bath before we do, though."

Shani lightly blinked as she watched Nuru grab his staff and used it to stand, Yasmin still clinging to him. "Why's that?"

"For two reasons, Shani," Nuru began as he dusted his backside. "For one Yasmin took a dip in the river and lost her 'make up' and she needs to reapply it. And for another we reek of outside meerkats… no offense."

"None taken," Timon and Sly mumbled in reply. Kito wrinkled his brow and sniffed his arm, and then he shrugged. He smelled alright to him…

"And because of that we need to cover it up, or else Kano and Kali won't 'like' us anymore," Nuru continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He lightly rolled his eyes and sighed as he released Yasmin from his grip. "C'mon, the dirt's not going to get any warmer." He put his paw on the small of Yasmin's back and started to follow her out.

Timon watched as Nuru began to walk out of the hollowed space of the dead tree with a somewhat uneasy chuckle. "You're uh… you're sure we're safe here?"

"This tree is just outside our limits," Nuru replied as he stopped and turned his eyes towards Timon's voice. "They typically stay close to the tunnels to keep out any other rogues who could attempt to take over." He softly snorted and turned away. "Tch, as if looking at him isn't enough to chase someone off. … But then again, if you had a good enough reason to… right, Kito?" Surprised, Kito coughed and lightly blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "If I was able to, I would've done the same thing for _my_ sister…" Yasmin remained silent as she rubbed her tired eyes and sniffled. "… Let's go." Nuru and Yasmin began to walk out again, which lead Shani to exhale loudly and fall back onto her back. She knew that since Timon found her the deal she made with those meerkats was off, so she knew she would have to stay with her family instead of the mob. And she was _not_ looking forward to the lecture she _knew_ was coming.

"… Shani, we're leaving now..." Yasmin looked back into the tunnel when she heard Shani sighing. "You _are_ coming with us, aren't you?"

Shani's eyes snapped open as she sat back up and stared at the three meerkats standing at the exit. "W-What? But--But I thought--"

"Kano and Kali think you're a part of our colony now," Hafiz said with a light grin and a tilt of his head. "If you're not in the tunnels tomorrow morning smelling like a _Makunga_ meerkat they're going to start snooping. At this point it's better for you to keep up appearances and come back with us."

"Besides, we haven't lived up to our end of the deal very well…" Yasmin gave a small smile and a shrug. "I know Timon is here now, but we didn't teach you very much today. Tomorrow Hafiz and I will be your teachers. Is… that OK with you, Shani?"

With renewed energy Shani jumped to her feet and resisted the urge to hug Yasmin. Instead she smiled wide and nodded eagerly. "Absolutely! Just point me in the direction of that dirt bath!" She then turned back to her family and gave a light, cheerful wave. "Goodnight!" And with that, she was the first one to walk out. She could feel Timon's dry glare as she walked out with a relieved sigh. She was free to avoid talking with him for another night…

Nuru could also feel the glare Timon was giving off, and looked over his shoulder with a light grin. "I'm sorry, Timon, but she has to sleep over with us for as long as those two are around. Just consider it an incentive to get rid of them faster." Timon softly growled as they turned to walk out. "We'll bring her back around some time tomorrow. In the meantime, get your rest. Goodnight."

_To be continued…_


	46. Caught in the Act

... Yeah, I know, I shouldn't keep spacing out these chapters so much. If this keeps up this story will be five-years-old by the next update. The excuse is the usual life stuff, but at least not typically the usual distracting things like reading books, playing video games, or role playing (although they've been involved, too). Rather, I've spent the past year bettering myself. Like millions of others I was overweight… in fact I was five pounds into obesity. But with a little alteration in food and walking an hour or more on the treadmill I have lost over fifty pounds since October 2008 and I am now at my ideal weight. I'm still exercising to keep it off so I don't have as much time to sit down and write, and being healthier I go to bed earlier than I used to, but I'm determined to end this thing properly! Here's hoping, right? … So, it's been almost twenty chapters since we've visited the oasis, right? Let's go and check on them, shall we?

Chapter 46:

The stars and moon had been settled into the deep blue sky for hours now, stretched out far and beyond what the eye can see. From the proud Pride Lands to the not-so-proud desert even to the meerkats' oasis and beyond, the sky moves on forever. On this night the oasis lay peaceful with only subtle chirps from crickets and perhaps an occasional snore from a slumbering resident to break the silence. It is what many refer to as "the dead of night"; when only the nocturnal are moving ahead where others lay still. In the oasis there are no nocturnal animals, but that does not mean everyone sleeps through the night. The night before Bango and Morake agreed to each other that they would wait until tonight before they attempted to leave the oasis and help in the search to find Shani and Barika, once things had settled down. Things had more or less returned to normal during the day without much incident, so the timing seemed right.

Bango and Morake had barely any trouble waking themselves up during the night; without Kito wearing them both out with his training they were well-rested. Bango had pre-packed a banana leaf satchel of bugs for the trip while Morake quietly gathered his own at the last minute. With the leaves tightened around their necks like bandanas they turned to each other and nodded without a word spoken between them. They were not needed. They both knew they wanted to join in the search and going at any other time would meet with objection from the adults. _Now_ was the time to move. The warthog and the cheetah began their journey towards the desert separating them from the Pride Lands off the oasis path. Many of the meerkat families rested along the path, so it was the best thing to avoid it. The pair walked past the grand waterfall and tiptoed under the trees with loaded hammocks, progressing ever closer to the border.

As his eyes were focused on the hammocks above Bango's hoof stepped on a vine that was tightly tied between two trees; so tightly that when it was stepped upon it snapped. "Huh?" he grunted and stopped to look down at what his hoof had broken. As he did Bango was suddenly met with a rotten piece of fruit right in his face, to which he yelled out in surprise and stumbled backwards. As he did the ground crumbled beneath him and Bango found himself at the bottom of a five-foot-deep hole.

"Bango, are you OK--?" Morake's head snapped back to look at his friend, not paying attention to the vine loop his back foot landed in. Suddenly the loop tightened around his foot and hoisted him into the air, causing him to holler and yelp as he swung by the vine tied to the still-shaking tree. As he did Morake's satchel of bugs dropped down to the ground, bugs scattering everywhere. "Bango, _help,_ the tree's gonna _eat me!_"

All of a sudden several bright lights appeared and casted down on the warthog and cheetah, who both squinted when the light hit their eyes. "Who's there?!" a voice demanded.

"Stay where you are!" another chimed in.

"Don't move a muscle!" yet another called out. At that moment a dozen vines dropped down from above followed by a dozen meerkats sliding down swiftly and effortlessly, their "flashlights" made of rolled up leaves and fireflies floating within clenched in their teeth. With a simple yank on the vines they recoiled back up into the trees from whence they came. The assembled meerkats split between Bango and Morake to get a better look at them with their makeshift firefly flashlights.

Bango wiped the remainder of the rotten fruit from his broad face and spat out the juice that seeped into his mouth, disgusted. His eyes squinted when the lights were shone down on him again. "Easy with the lights, it's dark in here," he complained and held an arm over his eyes to shield them from the light. "What's the big idea, throwing rotten fruit at us and dropping me in a hole? I thought we filled up all of Shani's holes."

"And since when did we start laying out snares, huh?" Morake groaned as he continued to swing by his foot, trying desperately to reach and cut himself free. "Someone could get caught in them like I did!"

"That's kind of the idea, Morake," one of the meerkats replied, folding his arms over his chest. "It's nothing personal, boys, but Zuri and Jina wanted to be sure you didn't try to leave during the night to try and join the search for the girls. If _they_ were forbidden from going then _you two_ shouldn't be any different."

"… OK, fine, but did you have to go so far as laying out traps?" Bango grunted as he tried to pull himself out of the hole only to land at the bottom again. "It's a little extreme."

A second meerkat shrugged with an awkward grin, "Well, we never had to stay awake at night before and there was no guarantee you would try to make a break for it _tonight._ If we set up the traps you'd make enough noise to wake us up and/or you'd be stuck until morning. Either way you would've been caught."

"Point… You're… not going to tell Mom and Aunt Zuri on us… are you?" the warthog tensely chuckled and flashed a large, toothy smile.

"We won't have to," the first meerkat returned with a straight face, reaching into the flashlight to fish out one of the fireflies buzzing around in there. "Once they see the traps have been sprung they'll know you were involved, whether we help you out of them or not."

Morake wrinkled his brow as the swinging had finally slowed down and looked down at the gathering of meerkats below him. "Why's that?"

"Because," the meerkat paused a moment to toss the firefly into his mouth and munch on it, "no one else here has a track record of leaving in the middle of the night to go where 'meerkat' is on the menu. We all know better." Bango and Morake both loudly swallowed when they realized that he was right. "Now, if I were you I would avoid the very stern lecture by telling Zuri and Jina straight out before they see the mess here in the morning and be handed the _mildly_ stern lecture instead. I mean, you're not planning on leaving the oasis _tonight,_ are you?"

Morake glanced back at his foot in the vine snare he was caught in and grimaced with a furrowed brow. "Well, since you found us out, I guess we'll be staying. Um, do you think you guys can help us out? I've got such an itch that I… can't…" Morake's voice trailed off as he noticed three meerkats up in the tree working on untying the knot that held the vine to the tree. One waved cheerfully at him just as the other two succeeded in untying the knot. The cheetah only had time to release a whimper before gravity took effect and with a screech he dropped and landed on the ground in a heap, stirring up some stray leaves. One leave landed on his nose, which he blew off with an annoyed glare. "… If I hear anyone make a comment about cats landing on their feet, I will personally test that theory on _meerkats_."

The rest of the group lowered a vine down to Bango to assist him in pulling him back onto higher ground. Some of them complained about being too tired to refill the hole so they decided to wait until the morning. As the meerkats began to climb back up the trees to reach their hammocks Bango stepped over to Morake to help him back to his feet. "Can you believe Mom and Aunt Zuri beefing up security like this?" he asked the cheetah.

"Yeah, setting up traps and posting sentries..." Morake said as he and Bango began to turn around and walk back the way they came.

"You'd think they don't _trust_ us or something."

"Where would they get an idea like _that?_"

"I don't know."

_To be continued…_

Alright, so we end another chapter. Now before you guys start getting antsy, guess what? … I'm already in production of the next chapter! I was hoping to have it kind of a two scene chapter, but then decided they wouldn't fit together with the way it was structured. Lucky you. Hopefully it'll be up before the end of 2009, if not early 2010. Here's hoping.


	47. Stone

Chapter 47:

"It's gonna happen…"

"_Please,_ don't say that--"

"It's gonna happen…"

"Shani, I'm _begging_ you, _**please--**_"

"_It's gonna ha…ha…ha--_"

"Here we go…"

"_Ha…__**ha…**__**haaaaaahhhhh-choooo!**_" Hafiz groaned as he held his leaf pillow over his head to block out the echo that emanated from Shani's sneeze within his small room. Her sneeze had scattered the leaves she and Hafiz were using as a blanket across the room. "Sorry, Hafiz, I tried to keep it in…" she said with a sniffle and a rub of her nose.

Hafiz removed the pillow from the top of his head to show Shani the dry, tired look that was plastered on his face. "If you had kept it in, Shani, your eyes would've popped out of your head." Shani quietly shrieked with one paw over her mouth and the other over her eyes, awaiting the next sneeze. With a wrinkled brow and a blink Hafiz sighed and rolled his brown eyes. "Of course that's never been proven..." A sigh of relief and the female removed her paws from her face. "That's the ninth sneeze to come out of you since we got home. What's the matter, are you suddenly allergic to tunnels? Aridisol intolerant?"

"... Is that some kind of air freshener?" Shani asked with a mildly stuffed nose. Hafiz groaned again as he pulled the pillow over his head for a second time. She rubbed her nose again with her fingertips, and then she cleared her throat. "I could use that stuff to distract from the smell. I keep breathing in all this dirt that's in my fur and it's tickling my nose."

"You have that dirt in your fur for a reason, you know," Hafiz yawned as he removed the pillow from his head and began to fluff it back up.

"Yeah, and I usually wash it off after I'm done playing in it," Shani returned, climbing out of the nest to gather the leaves that had flown away. "I never had to sleep with this dirty, gritty feeling before. It's very uncomfortable. How do you deal with it?"

Hafiz rolled onto his side, away from Shani with another yawn. "We were born and raised in the dirt; we learned to adapt to it and not let it bother us. You were born and raised in grass so I understand you're having trouble with it. But don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"… Do I _have_ to?" Shani asked, her arms cradling a few of the scattered leaves. "We're not going to be rolling around in the dirt _every_ night, are we?"

"Night is doubtful, day is definite. After a full day working in the tunnels you'll learn to tolerate the gritty feeling. Before that we'll mingle with some of the other workers to get our _Makunga_ smell back properly. We don't want the bosses to smell your family on us, do we?"

Dropping the leaves she had gathered back into the nest a thought suddenly occurred to Shani. "… Why is it such a bad thing to be around meerkats outside of the mob, Hafiz?" she asked while staring at his back. "Even if they don't have any intention of joining or taking over, if we were just being social with each other… is it really so bad?"

"Considering Kano and maybe Kali might take it the wrong way, _yes,_" the elder meerkat grumbled, pulling the leaves over his body and then laying his head down. "Go to sleep."

"But what if--?"

"_**Shani.**_" The blonde meerkat softly cringed as Hafiz interrupted her with an irritated tone in his voice. "I'm sorry, but it's too late to be asking these kinds of questions anymore. I don't know how late you stayed up at the oasis, but around here we go to bed early and we wake up early. If you're going to be living here you need to get used to the routine and _go to_ _**sleep.**_" With a heavy sigh Hafiz closed his eyes and settled in, hoping that Shani would not sneeze anymore so he can rest. He fell asleep almost instantly, but Shani found that she could not find the will to sleep. She merely sat on the edge of the nest silently, unsure of many things.

_Things seemed so much simpler in the oasis… but I don't belong there anymore. I guess I'll just have to adjust to the way things are here…_ With a soft sigh Shani rose to her feet and stepped out of the room, deciding to give Hafiz some quiet in case she did sneeze again. Everyone else was asleep by now, so there was little chance of her running into Kano another time. As she walked through the tunnels Shani decided to make a quick stop at the river to rinse off the dirt in her fur. The cold water might keep her awake, but at least she would feel clean. She climbed out of the nearest exit and inhaled deeply with a smile, feeling the cool breeze and the soft glow from the stars and moon. As she raised her eyes to stare longingly at the sky Shani first caught sight of a being in the sentry tree. It bore the body shape of a meerkat, which caused Shani to frown. _I can't believe how impatient you are, Dad…_ As she marched towards the tree Shani noticed that the meerkat's back was facing her and in the dim light she couldn't make out exactly who it was, but she _knew_ it had to be Timon. After all, who else would be outside of the tunnels at night if the rest of colony was asleep? Silently she began to climb up the tree, hoping to catch him by surprise. When she was a branch below him Shani reached up to grab the end of his tail and gave it a yank.

The meerkat yelped as his tail was yanked, completely startled by the action as he felt his balance shifting backwards. With a yell he fell back into Shani who grunted as she caught him and fought to keep her own balance on the branch. She ended up stumbling back against the tree trunk, holding the other meerkat up by his arms to restore her composer. They both sighed in relief when they became steady. After a moment the meerkat in her arms finally spoke in a displeased voice, "You do realize… there are plenty of less _homicidal_ ways of getting my attention, don't you?"

"_Nuru?!_" Shani squeaked, quickly releasing her grip on the meerkat, and moved around and away from him. "Oh my gosh, I-I-I'm so sorry! I thought you were my dad! Are you alright? Did I tug too hard? I didn't pay attention to how hard I pulled or--"

"Be quiet," Nuru grumbled, his back facing Shani. "You're starting to sound like the galago." He began to paw around on the branch to find the trunk so that he could climb back up to the upper branch. "Don't worry about it; I pulled on your tail this morning so you were in the right to return the favor. Go back inside and get some sleep."

"I'd like to, but I can't stand going to sleep dirty," Shani replied, rubbing her arm rapidly to banish some of the dirt from it. She wrinkled her nose as she breathed it in, which caused her to once again sneeze, shocking Nuru enough to stumble back onto his rear as he was about to climb up. Shani sniffled and rubbed her nose as she grinned awkwardly. "Sorry… and I've been keeping Hafiz awake with my sneezing, too." She heard Nuru mutter something under his breath as he got back to his feet and brushed himself off, flaking off some of his own dirt with a sniffle. Shani tilted her head. "So what are _you_ doing out here? I thought meerkats didn't come outside at night."

"We don't, normally… but I needed some air."

"Oh, I get'cha," Shani nodded, thinking that she understood. "You couldn't sleep either because you were sneezing, too, right?"

Nuru paused at her question, his paws positioned firmly on the trunk of the tree. "What makes you think that, Shani?" he asked, curiously.

"Well, for one thing you haven't dug a tunnel in forever, so you haven't had to sleep with dirt in your--"

"I've been sleeping in the same nest as my sister for three months," Nuru interrupted with a dismissive wave of his paw and another sniffle. "She sleeps very close to me… and she's completely covered in dirt, more than any other in the mob. If I didn't sneeze my head off just from breathing in _her_ fur then a little dirt in _mine_ won't make much of a difference."

Shani wrinkled her brow and twitched her lips, looking confused. "Well, if you're not sneezing then why are you sniffling? You're not _crying,_ are you?" Nuru didn't answer. He merely started to climb back up to the upper branch. The fact that he hadn't even turned to face her once made the young female suspicious. She frowned as she approached him and grabbed him by the foot before he could get out of her reach. "_Are_ you?" she asked again.

"_Let go_ of my foot, Shani."

"Not until you've answered my question, Nuru." Nuru merely growled in reply and tried to pull his foot out of her grip. Shani furrowed her brow and frowned more when he resisted and pulled harder to drag him back down. They both struggled against the other's strength, but inwardly she knew that he was stronger and that he would get away. Still she made the effort and took a step backwards, but her step was on the very edge of the branch which caused her to slip. Shani screamed when she felt her slip and released Nuru's foot to attempt to grab the branch on the way down. It appeared as though she has missed it when she was suddenly jerked to a stop. She was safe. Panting heavily Shani glanced down past her feet to see how high up they truly were and how a fall like that would have injured her… or worse. She swallowed as she turned her sights upwards towards Nuru, who had released the tree trunk and had grabbed onto her wrist when she slipped and released his foot. In the position he was in, facing straight down, Nuru's bangs were away from his scarred, puffy eyes. His wet cheeks were smeared with the dirt he was covered in and the ends of his bangs were moist. He panted softly as his blind eyes stared down at her, relieved that he caught her in time. A moment passed before the silence was broken between them. "Is it… is it really so hard just to say yes or no?" Shani asked, still panting.

Nuru blinked his eyes once, and grimaced with a look of shame on his face as he pulled her back onto the branch, his bangs re-shielding his eyes once he was sat upright. He heard Shani move around and past him as he sat again, rubbing his eyes under his bangs with a sniffle. Shani returned to him with a few small leaves a moment later and softly tapped them on his arm to get his attention. He turned to look at her paw, and then rubbed the leaves between his fingers to identify them. "… Thanks," Nuru sighed as he took them, embarrassed that she saw him like this.

Shani did not reply verbally to Nuru's thanks; she only let out a soft "hmm" and a nod as she moved back around him and sat on the other side of the branch, facing the opposite direction of him. She hugged her knees to her chest as she looked over her shoulder at him, only seeing his back and not his weak state. She exhaled through her nose as she looked straight ahead again and stared out into the horizon. "... I guess it makes sense," Shani broke the silence again. "I was wondering how I could've surprised you in such a way that you almost fell out of the tree. You told me this morning that you were always so alert."

"… How alert are _you_ when you've got things on your mind?" Nuru returned, using the leaf to dry his eyes and cheeks, and then his nose.

"… W-Well, it… it depends on… on the… thing." She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head as she continued to stare out towards the grasslands. "You know, like… well, there's… and how about… hmm." Nuru softly grinned as he turned his eyes to look back at her, silently wishing he could see the look on her face. "… Alright, if you're thinking about something deeply enough you're not so alert," Shani grimaced when she found he had a point. She looked back at him to find him nodding, satisfied with her answer. "So what were you so deep in thought about that you had to come out here and cry about it?"

With a small sniff Nuru discarded the first leaf he was using, rubbed his paws together, and rolled his eyes. "Shani, do you _really_ have to know everything about me?"

"Yes, I do," she replied straightforwardly. "I didn't like the way you treated me yesterday; it was like you were made of stone because you were so hard and cold. You didn't want anything to do with me. Today, you were… less-so, because we spent time together and you told me more about you… and then you actually called me by name. I liked the Nuru of today better than I did the Nuru of yesterday. So if I learn more about you then maybe we'll get to a point where we can call each other 'friend.'" She softly sighed and lowered her eyes as she added, "If not, then I'd like to get to a point where you don't growl at me for caring." The two of them fell silent once more. Shani felt she had offended Nuru again with her persistence and invading on his personal space, while Nuru felt a twinge of guilt for being so harsh towards her while she showed him kindness. With another sigh Shani rose to her feet, not looking back at Nuru. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Nuru. If you don't want to talk about it I won't make you. I'll leave you alone and I'll go back to what I was doing."

Before Shani could even take a step away from that spot she unmistakably heard Nuru telling her, "_Sit._" And she did, still facing the opposite direction of where he was facing. She did, however, look over her shoulder at Nuru, trying to judge from his body language what he was thinking. "After what you heard tonight I would've thought the reason was obvious." He sighed again as he brushed his bangs up to the top of his head, exposing his tired eyes again to the moonlight. "… Do you have any other siblings besides Kito, Shani?"

"No. … Well, not yet," Shani admitted with some hesitation and looked aside. "Ma's expecting to deliver within the next month." She blinked to herself and then she looked down at her paws, feeling a little embarrassed, and perhaps ashamed. "Gosh, I forgot all about them when I came out here. I'm gonna be a big sister…"

Nuru softly sighed as he listened to her, and then turned his eyes over his shoulder towards her voice. "Really. Remind me to congratulate your father later. And congratulations to you for your new siblings."

"Thanks, I guess." With a small, hesitant grimace Shani pulled her knees into her chest again. "Is it very hard to be an elder sibling, Nuru?"

"It varies, I've heard, depending on whether you were already the eldest or not. If you were the first born, like Kito, then you have certain responsibilities that you're expected to uphold, such as being a good example and to protect the younger siblings. If you were the second born, which you are, then the responsibilities are not as strained, unless the first born was unavailable or perhaps dead. For you I would imagine it being about the same as babysitting any of the younger pups you had back home. No matter what the age you'll _want_ to protect them all. That is how it is and was with my sisters and myself... except I was made the eldest by default."

"What do you mean?"

He hesitated for a moment before he replied, "Khairi and his mate Malkia had six litters before Yasmin, Naysun, and I were born, but the three of us were the last litter and the only ones to live to adulthood. Let's just say our father made some poor choices, during both pregnancy and after birth." Shani grimaced again. "I guess he wised up when he realized he was getting too old to keep making those mistakes." Nuru scoffed and turned his eyes forward again, exhaling through his nose. "As the eldest _living_ son and future leader I was expected to be brave, strong, and reliable from the start. Even when our mother died from a puff adder Khairi would never tolerate it when I cried. He told me a real male doesn't shed tears in front of others. It's a sign of weakness, he said. I had a duty to keep a brave face in front of everyone at all times, sturdy and unbreakable, like a stone." Shani wrinkled her brow when she thought she heard his voice waver. "But… stone _does_ break…" It was faint but she was sure she had heard it shaking. And when she heard him sniffle again Shani turned around to stare at his back. Nuru leaned forward with his bangs over his eyes again and clenched his paws tightly. "Yasmin and I grew up with Naysun... as siblings and littermates we had a special bond between us. When she--" Nuru suddenly stopped when his stomach began to ache again from the memory. He then took a deep breath before he felt solid enough to continue. "… I felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside-out. But still I could not bring myself to cry in front of everyone, especially not Yasmin. For them I had to be strong. But tonight is one of those nights when I felt I couldn't keep it in anymore, so I waited until everyone else was asleep before I could sneak up here… and chip away the broken pieces." After another moment of stillness Nuru softly said, "Now you know, so could you please go back inside? It's getting cold."

For a moment there was nothing but the wind stroking in his ears. When he finally heard some movement behind him Nuru believed he was finally going to be alone with his pain. He would wait until he heard her climb down the tree before he would feel secure. But suddenly the shifting stopped, hesitating briefly before it began again. Nuru found himself frowning when the noise came back to him and was about to object when he felt a paw grip onto each of his shoulders and a wet cheek pressed against the base of his neck. When Nuru felt Shani's tears on his back he couldn't bring himself to turn her away. "… You said he made mistakes, right?" Shani whispered into his ear. "Your father, I mean."

"… Yes, he did," Nuru quietly replied.

"He was wrong; it's not a bad thing for a male to cry… it shows that he has a soul and that he feels like anyone else. Kito cries, Uncle Sly cries… even my father cries, with or without an audience. They're not weak or made fun of for it." She sniffled and rubbed her cheeks against her shoulder to wipe away her tears, smearing the dirt on her cheeks. "For a while I thought you _were_ made of stone…" Shani felt a bit uneasy in her stomach as she inwardly debated whether she should attempt what she was thinking about. Inwardly she felt she should, so she leaned up slightly and allowed her arms to creep up and curl around Nuru's shoulders into a hug. She felt Nuru stiffen, as if surprised by her actions. After a moment Shani continued with a small smile, "… But I was wrong; you're too soft and warm to be made of stone, and that's OK. If you were your sister wouldn't want to be near you all the time." With a soft sigh Shani felt Nuru's body relax a bit. She still couldn't see his face, and she knew that's how he wanted it. Suddenly she felt a drop of something wet on her arm and she blinked. "Is it raining?" she asked, looking up at the clear night sky.

"Yeah..." Nuru said faintly with a paw over his face. "It's raining…"

For a moment Shani was going to argue that there weren't any signs of rain, but she could feel his body trembling a little bit and she heard him sniffling again. She thought it best just to leave it at that. "Yeah… should we head inside?" she asked, preparing to remove her arms from around his shoulders.

"No," Nuru said before Shani could completely remove her arms from his shoulders. "It'll pass soon…"

Shani softly sighed as she got back into her previous position, leaning a little more into Nuru to add some level of comfort without seeing his tear-stained face. "OK… I'll help keep you dry."

"… Thanks…" Shani did not reply verbally to Nuru's thanks; she only let out a soft "hmm" and a quiet tightening of her hug. She softly sniffled as she leaned her head back to stare up at the sky again, admiring the stars while her arms continued to get wet.

_To be continued… _


	48. The Healing Process

Chapter 48:

Night continued to drag on in the Pride Lands and most had already surrendered to sleep. Some stubbornly fought against sleep for their own reasons, such as wanting to stay up past their nest times, or by noises caused by nocturnal inhabitants who weren't considerate of others. Others, such as Timon and Sly, have one too many things on their minds to even think about sleeping. Kito, however, had constructed a hammock within the cavity of the dead tree and was already fast asleep, dreaming of crunchy bugs with creamy centers. Meanwhile Timon was using a stick to draw up plans in the dirt as Sly was staring out into the sky of stars seemingly lost in thought.

"Let's see here…" Timon mumbled to himself as he scribbled in the dirt. "If we got a heavy log and got 'em both at the bottom of a hill- No, wait, there aren't any hills around here. Well, we could still use a log and… and what, run inside it like some wide-loaded hamster wheel and run 'em over? Nah." He used the stick to scratch out the illustration of the plan, and then he smoothed the dirt out into a fresh canvas again. "OK, maybe if we dig a big enough hole- … Wait, they're meerkats; they'd just dig themselves out again." With a frustrated groan Timon broke the stick in half and threw both pieces over his shoulders. "Uncle Max's arthritis keeps him from digging up these days but these guys probably don't have that problem." He ruffled his red hair with both paws, making it extra messy, and then he turned his eyes to his brother's back. "You know, Sly, instead of spacing out on me _again_ you _could_ make yourself useful and help me figure out a plan." Sly's prolonged silence caused Timon to frown and his brow to furrow. "_Sly-_"

"I heard you, Timon," Sly interrupted, still staring out at the sky. "Would you keep your voice down?" He looked over his shoulder briefly and nodded his head towards Kito. "You don't want to wake up Kito, do ya?"

Timon turned his line of sight over to his sleeping son, and then he rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Y'know, I can't believe he can sleep so good after what we've been through today. Must be all that energy he's been having lately that burns him out."

"If you weren't so distracted about Shani I'm sure you'd sleep just as well, too. Or you'd at least come up with a decent plan to take care of those bosses." Sly shifted his body to face Timon and folded his arms over his chest. "A big enough hole… seriously?"

"I'd love to hear what _you'd_ come up with at this time of night," Timon dryly replied, wearing a deadpan expression. "But you're right; I'd probably think better if Shani was here instead of at the tunnels, then we'd at least talk things out." He then sighed, leaned back against the wall, and looked up at the ceiling. "… We finally find her and I didn't get any time alone with her. She wouldn't even come near me. How am I suppose to make up with her if she keeps on avoiding me?"

Sly turned his eyes back to the outside with a yawn. "You could try to get close enough to the tunnels without being seen, and then hope that she wanders away from the crowd long enough that you can catch her unawares. That's what I'm planning to do anyway."

Timon nodded, and then he wrinkled his brow and blinked in confusion. "Come again? Since when is Shani mad at _you?_ What'd you do to her?"

"I'm not talking about Shani, Timon… it's Yasmin." With a soft sigh Sly softly rubbed his jaw, slightly swelled from being punched twice, both by Nuru and Yasmin. "She's mad at me, too. She told me to _leave_ but she wanted me to _stay_… she wanted me to _come back._" He leaned his head back with another sigh and closed his eyes. "Females are so confusing. I mean I don't know if she really meant it or if she was just venting, but I don't want to leave without setting things right with her. She isn't meant to be this way… she's suppose to be happy."

For a moment Timon was silent as he stared at his younger brother. It seemed as though he had seen this look on his face before. And then he realized… he had seen it on his _own_ face. "You're in love with her, aren't ya, Sly?"

Sly felt as if he had just swallowed his tongue, causing him to cough and pound on his chest while Timon grimaced and leaned away from him. Once he had recovered he managed to gasp, "Love?" Timon frowned and put a finger to his lips, making a "shh" sound, and then he nodded his head towards Kito. They both turned to look at the young adult, who merely rolled over onto his back and snored, still peacefully asleep. Sly grimaced at his own outburst, turned back to Timon, and continued, whispering. "Have you been talking to Jina?"

"Jina? What does she have to do with anything?" Timon returned with a whisper.

"The day before we left the oasis she asked me that same question. Why would you be asking me the same thing if you didn't talk to her?"

The red-headed meerkat rolled his eyes with a scoff, "I didn't; you just had a _look, _that's all."

"… I had a _look. _What's that suppose to mean?"

"Look, do ya or don't ya?" Timon asked impatiently. "It's a simple yes or no answer. Are you in love with Yasmin?"

"Well… yes and no."

"… I said 'yes _or_ no,' Sly, not 'and.' Yes or no, will you give me a straight answer?"

"I'll do the best I can."

"I'm sorry, that's not one of your choices."

"Will you just shut up and let me talk?" Sly growled at his brother's persistence. Once the silence had settled between them Sly took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the outside. "I'm… not really sure _how_ I feel about Yasmin romantically, because I never gave her a chance. I was still-or at least I _thought_ I was still-in love with Zuri, and for that reason I couldn't be honest with my feelings for Yasmin. I know I love her as a friend and I feel a weird twisting notion in my stomach whenever she's sad." He turned his head back to look at Timon and then hesitantly added, "I guess… I didn't _want_ to love her that way because it was forced on me."

Timon nodded in agreement, his arms folded over his chest. "Yeah, being a bargaining chip is kind of a romance killer, I can see that. But you're not in love with Zuri anymore… _**right?**_"

"No-no, she's _your_ mate, Timon, and you're welcome to her," Sly said with a dismissive wave of his paw. "I don't love her the same way that you do anymore."

"So you're not in love with Zuri anymore," Timon repeated, to which Sly replied with a couple of shakes of his head. "So since you're not hung up on anyone maybe you should consider giving Yasmin a chance now. After all that's been going on she kinda deserves it, don't you think?"

Sly grew silent for a few moments, considering what had been said. He then closed his eyes and sighed, "That depends… if she ever really loved _me._" Timon wrinkled his face, confused. Sly shook his head with a sigh and stood. "It's something I've been wondering for a while, Timon. How did she _really_ feel about me? Did she love me because of my personality or because of my good looks? Or even just as someone to make the big decisions for her when leadership was to be shifted over to us?" He ran a paw through his dark hair and paced back and forth in front of the exit. "I know she's matured a lot since then, but have her feelings for me?"

"Well, all I can tell is that she seemed a lot more… emotional since last year. She's definitely not as strong as she was either."

The pacing stopped. Sly lowered his eyes with a soft sigh and said, "And how strong were you when our father died, Timon?" The dark-haired meerkat could hear Timon swallowing a very large lump in his throat while his back was turned. "The way I heard it you were outside when you were supposed to be in, and then a hyena came. Pop came up and saved you, but he ended up dying when the hyena's pack overwhelmed him. You felt guilty for a long time, didn't you?" Timon lowered his eyes and held a paw over his chest, feeling a twinge of heartache. "It's the same with Yasmin, only the hyenas were meerkats and the one to sacrifice their life for her was her sister. She just needs help to come to terms and heal… and move on with the life they want us to have, like you did."

"Considering she probably doesn't want you near her it's gonna be pretty tough, Sly," Timon admitted with a sad grin, lowering his paw.

"I know, but you let me worry about that. We can still try to mend our friendship."

The red-headed meerkat gave a faint grin as he folded his arms again and arched a brow. "While we're sorta on the subject, Sly, just when were you planning on telling Ms. Duel Identities the real reason Kito calls you 'uncle'?"

"When things have settled down," Sly replied. "It's not important for her to know that my real name is Titus and that I'm your brother right now. There are plenty of more important things to take care of first."

"Right," Timon nodded with a tired sigh. "I have to come up with a plan to get rid of these two bosses and make up with Shani while you have to make up with Yasmin and her brother-"

"Timon," Sly suddenly interrupted, holding a paw up in a "stop" motion, as if a thought at just occurred to him. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe… Shani might be better off out here?"

"… _Come again?_" Timon asked in a very dry tone of voice with a face to match.

"Well, OK, maybe she has a lot to learn, but with those meerkat instincts she'll pick 'em up without much problem, right?" Timon's expression did not change, which caused Sly to look away with discomfort. "All I'm saying is I think she's doing some good with this mob. The way Nuru was around her… it was… how do I wanna describe it?"

Timon grimaced with a roll of his eyes and sarcastically asked, "Normal?"

"Yes, normal, exactly, close enough!" Sly grimaced at his mild outburst and put a finger to his lips with an embarrassed smile. Timon nodded, and then he arched a brow and shrugged, urging Sly to continue with his point. "What I'm getting at, is that he didn't show any signs of hostility towards her. When I joined the mob he was aggressive towards me for a week until after he was blinded. He'd growl every time I walked by. He knows Shani for two days and he allowed her to touch his arm without so much as a hiss. Why do you think that is?"

"Maybe it's because he's less aggressive towards females?" Timon asked with a yawn, his eyes drooping.

"I doubt it," Sly shook his head. "Nuru has always hated rogues, especially after he was blinded by them. It could be because of a lot of things: he didn't want to upset Yasmin any further, or he was already feeling weak because of Naysun's death, or maybe even he's softened since I left last year. It could be anything." Sly took a seat again by the exit and looked up at the stars. "But I do know he isn't one to let anyone else see him cry. Khairi put it in his head that males must always be strong and that tears are only for the frail, usually females. In all the years I've known him I never once seen an actual tear on his face… until tonight." He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "He wiped it off quickly, but I saw it. He doesn't show softness in front of people he hardly knows. I'm just wondering if Shani is making a real difference… that she's helping him to heal…" Sly continued to look out at the sky, waiting for Timon's response… to which there was none. Puzzled, he looked back to find his brother propped up against the wall, asleep and snoring. Sly light smirked, "If you didn't want to hear my theory you didn't have to be rude…" He, himself, yawned and got comfortable against the opening of the dead tree. It had been a long day and tomorrow, he imagined, was going to be even longer.

_To be continued…_


	49. Humor Me

Well, to the followers who are going "_Finally,_ she's updated!" to the folks going "I found this on the front page and I don't think I've seen it before," I bid you welcome back and welcome, respectively. I've really been slacking off, but I have many hobbies and real life activities that keep me from doing other hobbies and/or activities, so one has to be patient when it comes to something you work at, and I do work hard on these to make them enjoyable to read.

It's been more than a few years since I began this story, and I _do_ intend to finish it. If nothing else I lack true motivation. I have a life outside of the computer, and Chapter 47 alone took me two months to write, and I spent a good chunk of my free time on it from constant tweaking and making sure everything sounded nice and in-character, mainly during the conversation between Shani and Nuru. And I love how that chapter turned out. So, bear all that in mind in the future and that I _still_ don't have some details worked out, but I'll try to iron them out in due time. If you haven't already skipped ahead to read the chapter, thanks for listening to my rambles, start reading and enjoy.

Chapter 49:

The night can be peaceful when you choose to ignore it through sleep. When one is in a deep enough slumber they tend to overlook things that may be viewed as unimportant. The chirping of a cricket, the rustling of the leaves in the trees above, or distant calls in the night may not be enough to awaken the soundest sleeper. Perhaps that is why some refer to such a sound sleep as being dead to the world. However, for every heavy sleeper there is also a light sleeper; one who may awaken when the smallest thing out of order. Since the death of her sister Yasmin has become such a sleeper; she had become so dependent on Nuru to keep her company while she slumbered that she found difficulty in sleeping alone.

Nuru had left the nest some time ago and his absence had finally been noticed by the younger sister. Yasmin turned onto her side, her paw brushing the bare spot where Nuru would lay, and felt the spot was cold. She wrinkled her brow and opened her eye a crack. When she noticed she was alone Yasmin opened both eyes and raised her head, a little alarmed. "Nuru?" she called out softly, her eyes scanning the dark chamber. No response. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes Yasmin rose from the nest and tiptoed towards the entryway of the chamber. She was about to stick her head out when a figure appeared in front of her, causing her to gasp and stumble backwards. With a soft grunt she landed at the foot of her nest and saw the figure more clearly.

"Naysun?"

Yasmin sighed in relief and brushed a paw up to her weary face. "Nuru… you scared me." She watched as Nuru stepped into the chamber, his hair and the fur on his face showing signs of dampness. He walked over to the nest, laid his staff aside, and climbed back into his spot. "Where were you?"

"I had to use the latrine, that's all," Nuru yawned as he laid back, resting his paws behind his head.

"Oh. … Why is your face wet?"

"I washed it. Is there something wrong with that?" he turned his blind eyes towards her and arched a brow.

"No, not at all," Yasmin softly sighed as she climbed back into the nest to rest beside him. She gazed at his face a moment before settling back down. "What do you think about all this, Nuru?"

Yawning a second time, Nuru turned onto his side facing away from Yasmin and got into a comfortable position. "I think it's better to not think out loud, Naysun. Any thoughts you might have, just keep them to yourself until later, and then we can compare them with the others." Yasmin gave a small sigh as she watched her brother and nodded, grunting in agreement. It was too late to get into a deep discussion anyway. Sleep caught up to her quickly, comfortable and secure with Nuru beside her. Nuru closed his own eyes, but did not fall right to sleep. He just could not let go of the conversation he and Shani had before he returned to the tunnels…

_Earlier…_

Nuru sat by the river, his feet submerged in the water and his staff by his side. He listened to the splashing Shani was making while she washed the dirt from her fur and found some amusement whenever she whined about how cold the water was. He softly sighed as he leaned over the river, his blind eyes staring at his own reflection. If he could see Nuru would notice the dried tear streaks on his cheeks were wide-spread, dirt smeared and crusted. He brushed a paw along his cheek to feel the outcome of his weakened state and grimaced. Cupping his paws together he scooped up some water and splashed it onto his face. "… Geez, it's cold!" he complained with a shiver.

Shani had begun to wade back towards the shore when Nuru started to wash his face and seemed surprised at his sudden outburst. She then snickered, finding some great amusement from his sudden change of temperament. _He acts like he's made of stone, but I don't think stone would complain if it was cold…_ She continued to chuckle softly, until she noticed Nuru staring at her, which caused her to blush and clear her throat. "Some water went down the wrong tube," Shani stated, trying to make an excuse to the noise she was making. She coughed a few times to make it sound convincing.

"I hate it when that happens," Nuru agreed as he splashed more water onto his face. He wiped around his scarred eyes and cheeks to clean the dried tears away and softly sighed. While wiping the excess off with his paws Nuru's ears followed Shani as she walked past. _What's the matter with you, Nuru? You know the pup two days and you allow her to touch you like that? You let a moment of vulnerability get the better of you and… and… _Nuru sighed as his thoughts strayed, turning his head to look back at Shani using a leaf to dry herself off. _…And you realize you needed it. You realize that you're-_

"Feeling better?"

"… Huh?" Nuru blinked a few times and straightened up, forgetting where he was for a moment. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Shani gave a small smile as she dried her hair, "I asked if you're feeling any better. You know, after that whole… uh… rain business." Shani gave an uneasy chuckle as she finished drying herself and walked back over to Nuru with a spare leaf. She felt that if he did not want to refer to it as crying, as he did while she hugged him from behind, then she would not either, at least when around him. "I know how it can take a lot out of someone."

"Yeah, well, it's good for it to rain once in a while." Nuru shook the water out of his paws with a soft sigh. "I'm far from where I want to be, but I guess I'm better than I was earlier."

"Oh. Well, any improvement is better than none, right?" After a moment of silence Nuru gave a half-shrug and a hesitant nod in return. Shani, a little disappointed, softly exhaled as she tapped the spare leaf on his shoulder, offering it to him to dry his face. He accepted it, after taking a moment to feel what it was. She watched him, uncertain of how she should feel about him. She wasn't used to someone being so distant from her; nearly everyone she knew was very outgoing and sociable. Nuru was not quite either, but the more Shani knew of him the less he seemed unapproachable. _Maybe what he needs is to have some fun._ With a rub of her chin Shani glanced at Nuru's staff and grinned. Just before Nuru began to reach for his staff Shani spoke up, "Wait a second, you missed a spot. It's right over- oh, wait, let me-" As soon as Shani began offering assistance Nuru had already begun to scoop up and splash more water onto his face. With its bearer distracted Shani planted her foot on Nuru's staff and rolled it towards her, away from him, with a playful smile.

The moment he heard dirt shifting beside him Nuru paused and lowered his paw to the ground where he had left his staff. He narrowed his eyes and frowned as he felt around, only to hear the soil move again. He glanced up at the suspicious giggling coming from Shani and arched a brow, not amused by her teasing. "Give it back, pup." She replied with more giggles and more shifting dirt. Nuru lightly furrowed his brow as he turned around and made a couple of grabs for his staff, only to come up with some stray grass blades. "_Shani…_ you don't take a blind meerkat's staff without asking first. Now give it back."

Shani lightly frowned as she held Nuru's staff across her shoulders and looked down at him. "You could at least say 'please.'" Nuru maintained his frown and stare, causing her to make a face. "_Gyah…_ OK, OK, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help you have a little fun," she admitted as she passed the staff back to him. Nuru merely grunted in reply and used the staff to stand upright. Folding her arms over her chest and tilting her head Shani watched Nuru and said, "Gee, the way you act I'd almost think you didn't like to play around."

"Actually it's more like, I don't get the time or opportunity to," he responded, using the leaf again to dry his face.

His statement caused Shani to widen her eyes and gasp, stunned. Being a meerkat born into what seemed like a never ending recess the idea of never having the time to play is incomprehensible. "You're kidding. … Not even a little? I mean, I guess I can understand you haven't with Kano and Kali here, but not even before they came along?"

"… Nope, nothing comes to mind." Nuru looked over towards her as he continued, "Those times are not important to me right now, considering everything that's going on with the bosses, you, and your family. Besides, most of my life has been in the darkness… it's hard to play most of the time when you can't see the game in front of you."

Nuru's words caused Shani to wince. He had a good reason why he couldn't have fun even if he wanted to. Most physical games _are_ best done with sight, as are most things. And after being told how strict Khairi was with Nuru Shani assumed he probably did not get many chances to properly play as a sighted pup either. "You've got a point… but that's no reason to be a stick in the mud all the time." Nuru softly growled and turned his blind sight away from her. "Something as simple as a smile can change a lot."

"That's what I've heard." Nuru turned his body to face her and folded his arms across his chest. "Look, I know you're trying to make me feel better, and while I appreciate the effort I'd rather you didn't. My problems are my own, alright? Just let it go and get some sleep."

He started to walk forward, back towards the tunnels, until he heard Shani trot ahead of him and stand in his path, causing him to stop. "Nuru, I know we're not exactly friends or anything, but I think we both agree that we care enough to worry about each other… right?" she asked, a little uncertain if he felt the same way. She felt at ease when, after a moment, he nodded. "Well, then, you understand why I can't let it go. You don't deserve everything that's happened to you… you should be happy."

The blind meerkat lowered his eyes and softly sighed as he started to walk past her. "I know I'd be happier if I didn't have to pretend to be sighted all the time. Do you know how often I've tripped over stones and had to make an excuse about it being caused by getting my toes caught in the dirt? I guess I should be lucky that I have that scar on my ankle so I can blame it on 'lameness.'"

Shani sighed as she watched Nuru move past her and began to follow him back towards the tunnels. She wished there was some way she could help him. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, causing her to reach out and touch Nuru on the shoulder to stop him again. "Nuru… have you ever gone to Rafiki?"

"… Rafiki?" Nuru wrinkled his brow and turned his blind sight back towards Shani. "Why would I want to go to the shaman for?"

"Because he's a mystic; he can do all kinds of magical… stuff. Kito told me about how he went to him and was lead to your colony when he was looking for our uncle, so maybe he can find a way to cure your blindness, and then you won't have to pretend anymore."

Nuru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Shani, Rafiki _is_ all-knowing, mystical, and from what I've heard a great healer, but to restore sight to the blind, especially after so many years? No shaman is _that_ good."

"W-Well, maybe not," Shani admitted with a grimace and a shrug, "but maybe he can find a way to work around it. You never know unless you try…" She sped up her pace to get in front of him again and stood before him. "I mean… what could it hurt?" Nuru looked down at her, his brow arched questionably at her suggestion. "Humor me just this once."

"… Let me sleep on it." With that Nuru once again walked around Shani to take the lead back towards the tunnels. "If I decide to humor you I'll be waiting by your chamber when you wake up, and then we'll make the trip. We can't be gone more than half a day without being noticed by Kano and Kali." He turned his blind eyes towards the young female meerkat following close behind. "Shani… you're not just trying to talk me into this so you can avoid talking to your father, are you?"

Shani fell silent for a moment. "No- I mean yes- I mean, the thought _had _occurred to me, but it was more of an afterthought, honest." Nuru's gaze remained on her and unchanged as he walked, not quite sure he believed her. This caused her to feel a little uneasy. "… I _am _going to talk to him, Nuru; my Dad is pretty hard-headed when he gets his mind on something, but I want to help you first. You've done so much for me already, now I wanna give something back." Nuru softly sighed and continued to walk on, while Shani stopped and stared at him. "… I want a chance to at least see you smile." Nuru paused in his tracks. "I'm sure I'm not the only one, either."

"… If I decide to go to Rafiki," Nuru began, looking straight ahead, "and if we come across your father on the way, you _will _stop and talk to him. If I don't, we'll cover for you and you'll seek him out yourself. Understand?"

"… Alright, Nuru… I promise…" Shani sighed, suddenly having an ill feeling in her stomach. "Can we go back now?" Nuru nodded with a soft grunt, and lead the way back to the tunnels, where they then separated to go to their respected sleeping chambers.

_Present…_

Nuru's sightless eyes stared at the ceiling as Yasmin laid asleep beside him. In his mind he knew he should reject the idea of Rafiki performing miracles on the blind and should not bother taking the trip. He knew he should let Timon and Shani finally have their talk and repair their relationship. He _knew _he should not be dwelling on the idea at all. And yet…

"_You never know unless you try. I mean… what could it hurt?" _

The meerkat sighed and shook his head briefly, and then closed his eyes to sleep.

Soon enough the sun was nearing its approach on the distant mountains, a new day waiting to arrive. Shani remained asleep on the ground beside Hafiz's nest, laying on a bed of leaves. When she returned to the chamber during the night Hafiz was sprawled out in the nest they were sharing, leaving no room for her to sleep, so Shani made her own bed. She softly grumbled as she heard some footsteps approaching her and turned away from them. "… Don't want a wake-up call…" She yawned and then wrinkled her brow as she felt someone grab her by the foot and dragged her away from her warm spot. With a growl she opened her eyes and glared up at the intruder, who released her foot once they were in the hallway. "You need a snooze button."

Nuru dusted his paws off as Shani complained and turned his gaze towards her. "On your feet, Shani, we need to get going before everyone wakes up."

"Going where?" Shani yawned as she rubbed her eyes, half-asleep.

"To Rafiki's, of course." He leaned down to help her up to her feet. "I know I said I would wait for you to wake up, but if we go early we won't risk being caught by the bosses."

"Oh… yeah, they'd- they'd try to stop us, wouldn't they?" Shani chuckled with a nervous smile and rubbed her throat.

Nuru nodded, "It's better we not draw attention. Now come on… they'll be waking up soon." He gestured Shani to follow as he lead the way, the young meerkat close behind. They arrived above ground, still dark with only a hint of the day coming, and continued on their way. Shani was silently relieved; it was less likely they would run into her father this early, and they were walking away from where he was staying…

"… Will we have to roll around in the dirt on our way back?"

"Only if you don't want to smell like a baboon."

_To be continued…_


End file.
